Johannesburg - South African Airways could
start shedding its 5 000 staff from May 12 if unions and workers
do not accept a proposed severance deal, administrators trying
to rescue the airline said on Sunday.
SAA entered a local form of bankruptcy protection in
December in a last ditch effort to either save or liquidate the
national carrier, which has not turned a profit since 2011.
The airline has been on state life support that has cost the
South African Treasury more than R20 billion ($1.06 billion)
over the past three years.
Rescue specialists Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana last
month proposed severance packages for all staff, after the
government said SAA would receive no more cash.
But the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and
the South African Cabin Crew Association, went to a labour court
to try to block the cuts.
"In the event that labour do not accept the agreement, the
BRPs (business rescue practitioners) reserve their rights to
offer (it) ... to all employees, regardless whether they belong
to a union or not, for individual acceptance," between May 8 and
May 11, the letter to staff reviewed by Reuters said.
"Where agreements have not been reached, ... those
employees' employment may be terminated for operational reasons
on or after 12 May," it added.
South Africa's public enterprises ministry still wants to
salvage a rump of SAA in some form or other, although since the
coronavirus pandemic ravaged the global airline industry, it is
not clear what that would amount to.
The rescue specialists added that they would oppose the
application by the two unions in court because "if successful,
it would further contribute to the financial and other
challenges that SAA is facing."