(Bloomberg) -- South African Airways canceled about 60% of its flights after the bulk of its pilots went on a strike over pay, with the carrier’s chief saying the airline won’t be able to handle more disruptions to its nascent financial recovery.
The carrier “may not be able to sustain if the strike goes beyond two or three days from now,” Interim Chief Executive Office John Lamola said in an interview on local broadcaster eNCA. “This is going to damage South African Airways.”
The strike that started Thursday has affected many of South African Airways’ flights on major domestic and regional routes, including services between Johannesburg and Cape Town, and operations to Lagos, Mauritius, Namibia, Perth and São Paulo, leaving thousands of customers stranded in the peak travel season.
Partner-airline flights including code-share and Star Alliance services are going ahead as scheduled, travel company Flight Centre said in a statement Thursday.
Founded in 1934, the flag carrier that received billions of rands of bailouts from the state entered a local form of bankruptcy protection in late 2019 and resumed flying in September 2021. In November, it reported a profit for the first time since 2012.
Pilots took a 50% pay cut when the airline resumed operations, SA Flyer magazine editor Guy Leitch said in an interview on EWN.
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The SAA Pilots Association is seeking an increase of 15.7% for its members while the airline is offering 8.5%.
“We are determined that we are not going to restore these pilots to the lucrative life that they enjoyed in the old South African Airways,” Lamola said.
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