AIRLINE COMAIR said on Friday it had been unable to agree on a way forward on its salary dispute with National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, but was still committed to an amicable and equitable resolution.

Last month the two parties agreed to set up a working committee to deal with wage discrepancies and shifts patterns at Comair after reaching a deal to avert a strike under the mediation of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

Comair that owns and operates Kulula.com, says amicable solution will be found following deadlock on wages on Friday with union NUMSA.

On Friday, Comair executive director for the Airline Division Wrenelle Stander said Numsa’s claim that white personnel were paid R7,000 a month more than their colleagues on the basis of race was factually incorrect.

“We run our business with integrity, fairness and transparency. We have zero tolerance for racism or any form of discrimination,” Stander said.

Comair said the salary discrepancies of 21 employees had arisen as a result of evolving airport operations, when some salary scales were collapsed, going back as far as 2009.

Stander said while the company was unable to support Numsa’s current stance to increase the salaries of the rest of the 683 employees in the bargaining unit to match those of the 21 outlier salaries, it remained willing to find ways to close the gap.

Comair is the South African operator of British Airways flights and owns Kulula.com,

additional report by SLM.