Flight Centre responds to SAA flight cancellations
South Africa Airways (SAA) has cancelled nearly all its domestic, regional and international flights scheduled for Friday, 15 November and Saturday, 16 November 2019 following an announcement by the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) that their members will embark on industrial action from Friday morning, 15 November.
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In response, the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) and its travel experts will be contacting all FCTG customers who will be affected by the South African Airways (SAA) strike to assist them with the best course of action.
Only flights operated by South African Airways will be affected. All flights operated on partner airlines, including SA Express, Mango, SA Airlink and all codeshare partners, including flights operated by SAA’s Star Alliance partner airlines will not be affected.
"Customers with SAA tickets for departure on the 15th and 16th of November should not travel to the airport as they will not receive any assistance from SAA. The airline’s call centre is also likely to experience high call volumes during this time," says Kim Taylor, customer experience director for the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) South Africa.
Taylor advises that all affected FCTG customers will be contacted directly by their consultant. She says: "Our consultants will be able to rebook, cancel or re-route affected customers as per SAA’s re-accommodation policy and advise on the best course of action to ensure minimal disruptions to their travel."
Affected customers with South African Airways ticket bookings on 15 and 16 November 2019 have the below options as per SAA’s offered re-accommodation policies:
• Rebook onto another SAA flight for any flight until 31 October 2020 at no extra charge (subject to availability in the same booking class).
• Cancel their booking for a full refund (including taxes) - offered to the original form of payment.
• Customers can be re-routed onto flight(s) operated by any of SAA’s Star Alliance, Codeshare and Interline Partners.
• All tickets must be reissued on or before 30 November 2019.