SAA To Cut 10 Pct Of Catering Staff

Airline caterer Airchefs is to layoff about 10 percent of its workforce, as its parent company, loss-making South African Airways (SAA) develops its latest turnaround plan.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), which represents workers at Airchefs, said it had been informed of the layoffs of 118 people out of a total workforce of around 1,200.

The union condemned the layoffs while the airline is still in the process of formulating a turnaround strategy.

“The Airchefs board and management did not consult the union when it made the decision to retrench workers,” a NUMSA statement said.

“It is also strange that the board of the catering company is not waiting for SAA to implement the turnaround strategy before resorting to the drastic step of shedding jobs.”

The union said it was engaging with SAA group chief executive Vuyani Jarana and would do all it could to defend workers and their jobs.

The South African flag carrier is heavily loss making and hasn’t made a profit in the last six years. Jarana is expected to cut staff numbers at the airline with at least 1,000 of its 10,000 workforce expected to go.