South African Airways (SAA) pilots win against the SAA in an arbitration to get 6 months' salaries and meals allowances !

Big Win For South African Airways (SAA)  pilots !

Court ruling went in favour of Pilots for the payment of their wages and meals allowances for the period of 1st June to 18 December 2020.

Earlier, Pilots belonging to the SAA Pilots Association have been locked out of the workplace since the 18th of December which was due to the failed talks with the airline’s Business Rescue Practitioners (BRP) over new employment contracts.

Now, after the arbitration , SAA is liable not only to pay certain outstanding salaries of members of the SAA Pilots' Association, but also claims for meal allowances.

• SAA pilots'  claim amount for meal allowances is around R11 million.
• They are also claiming for unpaid salaries.

SAA had entered a local form of bankruptcy protection in December 2019 after a decade of financial losses. Matters took a turn for the worse after the airline grounded flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic earlier last year.

The administrators were preventing nearly 400 pilots from accessing the company's premises until they agree to new employment terms and conditions. Those included the new salary scales.

SAA Pilots’ Affiliation (SAAPA) Members went on strike for the first time in the history to safeguard their interests.

Now, the arbitration ruling forces SAA to oblige and prioritise the fee of SAAPA’s claims.