Fuente : South African Airways
http://ww.flysaa.com/

SAA LAUNCHES OPERATIONS RECOVERY

/noticias.info/ Johannesburg. Saturday, 30 July 2005. South African Airways (SAA) today further rolled-out its recovery plan to bring stranded passengers back to South Africa.

SAA’s recovery plan continues after the airline and unions representing cabin crew and ground staff signed an agreement on Thursday that ended industrial action.

This includes ferrying empty planes from Johannesburg to outstations, for example London, to ensure a quick recovery.

Tonight SA9235, SA9237 and SA9221 will be leaving from London, two to Johannesburg and one to Cape Town. Tomorrow three planes will also leave for London to arrive on Monday morning.

SAA’s alliance and code share partner on the London route, bmi, has helped SAA with extra staff at Heathrow airport.

The recovery plan also includes accommodating passengers from the European stations like Frankfurt and Paris.

SAA’s flight schedule had by today recovered to 85% of its normal operations. By Monday the schedule is expected to run at a hundred percent.

“We remain resolved to normalise our flight schedule and to win our passengers back. Our recovery plan over the next few days will ensure that all stranded passengers can be brought home soon,” says Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, SAA General Manager Communications and Customer Services.

The airline again apologises to all of its passengers for the inconvenience industrial action has caused them.

As part of the agreement that ended the industrial action by cabin crew and ground staff, SAA has put a task team together that includes all unions and management.

The task team will meet from next week to review, improve, and regularise the working conditions of all staff.

Passengers can call the following numbers should they have any enquiries:

Customer Care help line on +27 11 978 2888
SAA Reservation on +27 11 978 1111
SAA Voyager clients can call +27 11 978 1234
SAA’s London office at: 0870 747 1111.
Also visit our website at www.flysaa.com for flight information.

Background
Industrial action at the airline resulted in its ground staff and cabin crew downing tools on Friday, 22 July after wage negotiations between SAA management and its unions, SATAWU, AIWU (UASA) deadlocked.

An agreement was reached Thursday, 28 July, between SAA and labour in which staff would receive a 5% increase on pensionable wages, 5% on medical, 5% on housing and an additional 1% increase on non-pensionable allowance. notas_de_prensa_archivo