SAA's warning over bogus websites

Recruits undergoing training at the South African Flight Training Academy. Image: SAFTA

"Those websites contain false and/or misleading information about SAA's Cadet Pilot Development Programme and cabin crew recruitment process.

"SAA would like to clarify that it does not have any relationship whatsoever with those (websites) and the individuals behind them," said SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali.

"A quick way of identifying these bogus sites is that they ask for a fee to be paid to secure an application or to ensure that an applicant gets shortlisted. SAA never charges any fee during recruitment drives," said Tlali.

SAA said it views the fraudulent use of its corporate identity in a serious light. "Should the airline obtain reliable information about any persons behind this scam, SAA will not hesitate to take prosecute them."

He pointed out that as applications for the pilot programme had closed, anyone offering services to assist with gaining a position was probably running a bogus scheme.

In September, SAA invited young South Africans, who want to become pilots, to apply for the Cadet Pilot Programme. The advert was placed in some of the national weekend newspapers. In addition, the following official SAA websites are legitmate: FlySAA, SAA's Facebook page, FlySAA, and SAA's Twitter account @flysaa.