Air Nam agrees on pilots’ pay

AIR Namibia and the Namibia Airline Pilots’ Association (Napa) yesterday made official the 12 per cent salary increase deal struck between the two parties late on Friday, which averted a potentially embarrassing strike that was scheduled this past weekend.

While the pilots’ initial demand for a 15 per cent increase was reduced in this final agreement, a request for the increase to be backdated to September 2007 was granted. The pilots’ union announced on Thursday afternoon that months of negotiations had reaped no rewards, and thus they planned on grounding all Air Namibia flights scheduled to depart from Windhoek from Sunday morning onwards.On the same night however, Napa and Air Namibia reached a verbal agreement to avert the strike.This agreement was formally signed yesterday.Pilots said their last salary increase before this one was in September 2004.The pilots were excluded from a 15 per cent increase that was granted to all non-management Air Namibia employees in June 2007.Pilots then received a 3 per cent increase.The pilots’ union announced on Thursday afternoon that months of negotiations had reaped no rewards, and thus they planned on grounding all Air Namibia flights scheduled to depart from Windhoek from Sunday morning onwards.On the same night however, Napa and Air Namibia reached a verbal agreement to avert the strike.This agreement was formally signed yesterday.Pilots said their last salary increase before this one was in September 2004.The pilots were excluded from a 15 per cent increase that was granted to all non-management Air Namibia employees in June 2007.Pilots then received a 3 per cent increase.