Unions Welcome Court Ruling Paving Way For Vote On SAA’s Rescue Plan

The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa), the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), and the South African Airways Pilots’ Association (Saapa) on Wednesday all welcomed the Pretoria High Court’s dismissal of SA Airlink’s bid to stop Thursday’s crucial meeting around the future of South African Airways (SAA).

Creditors are expected to vote on whether to implement the business rescue practitioners’ (BRPs) controversial business plan to save the broke airline.

The BRPs had warned that government would need to find R10 billion at the very least for their plan to work.

The privately-owned SA Airlink tried to stop the meeting, arguing that SAA was not commercially viable and should be placed under liquidation.

“While we sympathise with the fact that SA Airlink equally became a victim of this – and we certainly share their frustration and the satisfaction in respect of the conduct of the BRPs – SA Airlink’s application was not in the interest of all parties, especially not in the interests of workers. These parties such as SA Airlink will be well advised to rather join forces with unions such as Numsa and Sacca,” said Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola.

EWN