SAA passengers stranded as crew refuses to fly
Cash-strapped South African Airways had to fork out hundreds of thousands of rands after cabin attendants refused to continue with an international flight, the Sunday Times reported.
The crew of 14 attendants faces suspension when they return to work this week pending an investigation into their behaviour.
The SAA flight with 244 passengers on board was taxiing out from Washington's Dulles Airport when the flight was told to hold due to bad weather, the Sunday Times report said.
After an hour's wait the crew approached the captain and informed him they were not prepared to continue with their flight.
They said that they would exceed their flight and duty time limits on the 15-hour flight to Johannesburg.
The captain, however, has the discretion, according to SAA's flight-operations manual as well as international Air Navigation Rules and Regulations, to extend duty time by up to three hours. And he exercised this right.
Following extensive consultations, the defiant crew flatly refused to continue.
The captain had no option but to cancel the flight to Johannesburg in the interest of passenger safety and comfort.
full story from M&G here
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