FlySafair pilots threaten strike after wage talks collapse

Key topics:

• Over half of FlySafair pilots plan to strike over wage disputes

• Pilots rejected a 5.7% raise, demand 10.5% and inflation-linked hikes

• Strike threat follows past issue with airline's local ownership rules

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By Rene Vollgraaff

More than half of the pilots at South Africa’s largest airline FlySafair are preparing to go on strike after failing to reach and an agreement on wages, labor union Solidarity said.

The majority of the 211 pilots represented by Solidarity rejected the low-cost carrier’s final offer of a 5.7% raise, Deputy General-Secretary Helgard Cronje said by phone. The labor union’s members, who make up about two-third of FlySafair’s total pilots, are demanding 10.5% in the first year and inflation-linked increases in the subsequent two years, he said. 

The threat of a strike comes six months after FlySafair faced being grounded for breaching local ownership laws. The Department of Transport then gave the airline — which accounts for about 60% of the domestic seat capacity in South Africa and carries on average 30,000 passengers per day — a year to comply or risk having its license revoked.

Solidarity and FlySafair will finalize rules on Thursday under the guidance of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and the first strike could then start a few days later, Cronje said in an emailed statement. 

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.