FlySafair Johannesburg after three years: the South African low cost carrier, the domestic network, the pay in rand and the Gulf as the exit everyone plans
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#1 FlySafair, Johannesburg, three years, and the South African threads on here are the Emirates and Qatar applicants from Durban and Cape Town. Nobody has written the domestic carrier they mostly start at or skip. Here is FlySafair from inside.
The airline
South Africa's largest domestic carrier now, a low cost 737 operation out of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Lanseria and the smaller cities, with a regional network to Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia. Grew fast into the space the older carriers left. A young crew, a fast operation, a South African version of the Ryanair model with a warmer service.
Recruitment
South African nationals in regular rounds, with the standard requirements (18 plus, the reach, English fluency, no visible tattoos, a matric certificate, hospitality preferred), a group assessment, an interview, the medical and the swimming. The training is in Johannesburg, around six weeks, with a training bond. The rounds are frequent because the airline is growing and the crew leave for the Gulf.
The pay in rand
A basic that is modest, flying pay per hour, sector allowances, a buy on board commission, and the domestic per diems. In rand it is a livable Johannesburg salary for a young person sharing, and a tight one alone. The regional night stops in Mauritius are the small prize. No hard currency allowances to speak of, which is the difference from every airline the South African Gulf threads describe.
The flying
Four to six sectors a day on the domestic trunk (Johannesburg to Cape Town is the busiest route in Africa), full cabins, a buy on board, 25 minute turnarounds, the Johannesburg altitude (1,750 metres, which the Mexico City thread will recognise) and the Cape Town wind. Home every night mostly. The passengers are South Africa: every language, every kind of traveller, mostly cheerful.
The Gulf as the exit
Honestly: most FlySafair crew plan the Gulf. The Emirates and Qatar events in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban recruit heavily and a South African crew member with two years of domestic hours, good English and the service experience is a strong candidate. The Gulf pays five to eight times the rand salary in hard currency with housing. The airline knows it and trains well anyway, because the crew who stay become the seniors fast.
Who stays
The ones with families in Johannesburg who will not do the Gulf distance, the ones who became senior cabin crew at three years and like the role, and the ones for whom home is not negotiable. A minority, and the airline's backbone.
For South African applicants
FlySafair is the fastest door into flying in South Africa and the best preparation for the Gulf events. Apply, do two years, learn the four sector day, and then decide. Or stay and be a senior at 25. Both paths exist and both start at the same assessment.
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#2 Emirates from Cape Town, and I did 18 months at a South African domestic carrier first. The Gulf recruiters treated it exactly as Kwesi says: real hours, real service, strong candidate. The domestic year is the South African path and it works.
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#3 Emirates from Joburg, and 'the airline knows it and trains well anyway' is the thing I respect about the South African low cost carriers. They train the Gulf's crew and they do it properly.
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#4 Durban, Joburg open day next month, and FlySafair was the plan B I had not taken seriously. Two years of hours then the Gulf with a record. That is a better plan than waiting.
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#5 Ex BA, Cape Town, recruitment now, and I place FlySafair crew into the Gulf events regularly. The four sector domestic day is the preparation the recruiters like. Kwesi's honesty about the exit is what the airline itself says.
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#6 Viva Aerobus Mexico City, and the FlySafair description is our description: the altitude, the six sectors, the Gulf as the exit, the airline that trains well anyway. The ultra low cost carriers of the south are one tribe.
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#7 Ghana, applying to the Gulf, and the South African domestic path is one West Africa does not have in the same way. Kwesi's crew have a door we do not. Good to know the shape of it.
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#8 IndiGo Bangalore, and the FlySafair thread reads like the IndiGo thread with different geography: the domestic carrier as the Gulf's training ground. Every region has one.
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#9 @hectorcdmx one tribe is right. The ultra low cost carriers of the south train the world's premium cabins and get no credit. This forum is the credit.