Strike-hit South African Airways (SAA) resumed limited domestic flights on Thursday, days after it commenced limited service to selected international and regional destinations.
The airline resumed flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town and Durban as well as to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe on Thursday.
The move comes after the resumption of flights to six other destinations in Africa and outside the continent earlier this week, the airline said.
The domestic flights are taking place as the industrial action remained in full swing in spite of some workers returning to work to enable the SAA to mount the limited domestic, regional and international flights.
The 3,000 striking workers’ unions have vowed to extend the strike to the SAA’s affiliate airlines to achieve their objectives of higher salaries and better working conditions.
But Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said the airline workers could be at risk of not being paid this month due to cash shortage in the SAA’s coffers.
A week after the strike, a mediator on Thursday will continue to hold talks with both sides – the SAA and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and South African Cabin Crew Association – in an effort to bridge the gap between the employers and the workers.
While the minister said his government was committed to saving the airline from collapsing, the NUMSA said there would be “no surrender” to demands for its members during the mediation talks.
NM/jn/APA