This is not intended to start an inflamatory discussion although feedback of a sensible nature would perhaps provide a link with reality?
It is almost certainly true to say that, especially if balanced against international cost of living indices, South African Airways pilots are probably the best paid in the world as employees of a national carrier.
Furthermore, it would seem as though SAA has been quite flexible, certainly in past cases, in allowing its pilots to live outside South Africa. Australia springs to mind as one classic example of this.
There are of course many low time South African pilots living in the country who would dearly like to sign up with the flyiing Springbok. One meets them all the time at flight schools and training centres. One has to suspect that part of the national carrier's present pilot shortage is caused more by poorly planned political expediency than by rational thought and foresight. Is there not a danger here that SAA will be forced out of necessity to recruit short term pilots from overseas or up continent, who will then, one way or the other, remain with SAA on renegotiated contracts to the detriment of the local young pilot employment pool. One does after all, only have to visit the CAA on an occasion or two to find African pilots, clutching, in particular, blue British licences, obtaining South African validations, in one particular case in mind, to fly for a jet operator based at FALA.
