2nd April 2021
Via email to gntback@gmail.com

Captain Grant Back
Chairman
South African Airways Pilots Association

Dear Captain Back

I am again writing on behalf of the all the pilots within the Associations of Star Alliance Pilots (ASAP) to express our dismay and extreme disappointment at the continued malicious treatment of South African Airways pilots, by the Business Rescue Practioner’s and the Dept of Public Enterprises. Not only have you been locked out since December and have not been paid in nearly a year, but you are also now being unfairly targeted as “sabotaging” the SAA recovery effort to cover up the ineptitude and corruption within management.

We appreciate that SAAPA had made significant concessions towards securing the future of SAA and the pilots employed there. That you have now had to issue “strike notice” to try to have your retrenchment agreement honoured beggars belief.

You may be assured that as fellow ASAP pilots we are unequivocally committed to supporting SAAPA as you fight for your contractual rights.

I ask that all member associations respect the strike notice and honour the request for mutual assistance as requested from IFALPA copied below.

All SAAPA pilots will go on strike at 1800 UTC today 1 April 2021 with the following demands:

1. That the Regulating Agreement, its annexes and all other collective agreements be terminated on the day following the date on which the last SAAPA member leaves the employ of the Company as a result of the section 189(3) notice dated 18 July 2020.

2. That the proposed terms and conditions relating to dismissal of pilots for operational reasons and the notice period* as contained in the Company’s proposed terms and condition for future pilots, be applied to the dismissal of current pilots as a result of the section 189 notice dated 18 July 2020.

535 Herndon Parkway Herndon, Virginia USA, 20170 Alliancepilot.org

3. We demand that all pilots who are to be retrenched as a result of the section 189(3) notice dated 18 July 2020 be retrenched by no later than 15 April 2021 and that SAA pay these pilots their remuneration on termination, for the three (3) months’ notice that pilots would have received, in lieu of the pilots working their notice period.

As a consequence of the above, ALPA-SA requests, through IFALPA, the following Mutual Assistance starting on 1 April 2021 at 1800 UTC and until further notice:

Denial of Training Facilities (Para. 2.4.4) Submissions and Representations (Para. 2.4.7)

Again, we extend our full support to the pilot members of SAAPA and wish you well in the coming days and weeks.

Yours in Unity,

Captain Craig Malcolm
Chairman
Associations of Star Alliance Pilots Executive Board