Several flights on the Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Durban routes have been cancelled as Mango Airlines crew embarked on a strike on Monday morning, eNCA reported.
On Sunday, trade union Solidarity reportedly met with Mango management in an attempt to reach a settlement after wage negotiations stalled, but no solution was found.
According to eNCA, these are the routes which are disrupted:
- Flight JE 534 from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg, which is meant to depart at 8.25am, has been cancelled.
- The 6am flight from Durban to Lanseria has been delayed to 8.35am.
- The 8.55am flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg is now only scheduled to depart at 10.40am.
- The 9.30am flight from Cape Town to Lanseria has been delayed by two hours.
- Several afternoon flights on the Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Durban routes have been cancelled.
According to Fin24, the Solidarity members on strike include flight captains and first officers. About 95% of the pilots at Mango are Solidarity members. The strike began at 5am on Monday.
Solidarity deputy general secretary Deon Reyneke reportedly said: "It once again would appear as if Mango's management is not committed to accommodate its qualified employees as far as salary increases, which are below market value, are concerned."
Times Live reported that SA Airlink's crew is also joining the strike. Part of the grievances by SA Airlink staff are discrepancies in salary hikes between pilots and cabin crew.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) reportedly said SA Airlink increased pilots' salaries by 32% while increasing the cabin crew's salaries by only 10%.
The union reportedly said pilots are paid R40,000 per month while cabin crew members are paid R6,500 per month.