A strike, called by the South African Airways Pilots Association has been suspended. Great news for the thousands of travellers expected to embark on their holiday journeys this festive season.

The suspension comes after an agreement was reached between the association and National Transport Movement (NTM) in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Earlier this week, IOL reported that the pilots association issued the national carrier with a notification of its intention to strike from Thursday, December 5. SAA later went on to confirm that despite the interruption in schedules, it continued to operate at 51%.

"Despite the challenges, on Day 1 of the strike, SAA successfully operated 39 out of 47 planned flights to Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha, Mauritius, and Windhoek. This represents 51% of the planned flights, including 66% of domestic, 30% of regional, and 33% of international routes," SAA explained in a statement.

SAA interim chief executive officer, Professor John Lamola, previously explained that the association initially demanded a 30% increase in pilot salaries which was later reduced to 15.7% with benefits.

Lamola added that SAA has offered salary increases of 8.46%, backdated to April 1, 2024, a significantly higher wage offer than general salary increases in SA in 2024, which was benchmarked against international pilot salary adjustments, and in line with what was granted to the rest of SAA staff members in June 2024.

While the strike has been suspended, talks between the pilots association and the will continue.

SAA has only recently regained its operational viability after emerging from business rescue in 2021.

IOL