Photo by: Reuters
An unprotected strike by some employees of airport ground handling services company Swissport is causing delays to flights by national flag-carrier South African Airways (SAA), the airline reported on Wednesday. The strike is taking place at O R Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg.
Swissport, which also services other airlines, has advised SAA that it will seek to reduce the impact of the strike on operations through the implementation of contingency measures. SAA is continually liaising with Swissport and other companies in its “value chain” and is closely watching developments.
The delay being suffered is about 90 minutes, and the airline has made the decision to use its own resources to assist Swissport and reduce the delay. SAA is also seeking to provide all the help required to its affected customers. Three flights had to depart (to Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Maputo) without any baggage, although the bags were subsequently sent on later flights.
“We would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused by the delays we are experiencing due to strike action,” stated SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali. “We would like to advise our customers to make the necessary adjustments to their travel arrangements to accommodate this unfortunate operational glitch.”
“We will do everything possible to assist passengers with onward connections via Johannesburg to their final destinations,” he added. “Should the situation continue, we will implement additional recovery plans.”