Air Namibia pilots on strike
2012-11-22 11:23
Namibia's national airline has cancelled a number of flights in the past week as negotiations over salary increments for pilots continue to stall.
eTN reports that a total of 33 flights that were set to take off between yesterday and next Monday, have been cancelled.
Theo Namases, the managing director of Air Namibia, yesterday confirmed that they were still negotiating with the the Namibian Airline Pilots Association (Napa). Both parties are optimistic that an agreement will be reached this week.
Napa president Christian Schneider claims that Air Namibia pilots receive nearly 30% less than those at other airlines, and said there were about 50 to 55 pilots on strike.
Management had offered a 5% salary increase across the board, backdated to April 1 2012, but the pilots rejected it. The national airline said it did not have the money to increase the offer.
In the meantime, the financially troubled airline is using contract pilots and those workers who opted not to strike.
Airline spokesman Paulus Nakawa said earlier this week that the strike was costing the airline N$5 million a day.
