All SA Airways (SAA) flights leaving from Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airports were grounded on Friday morning as the airline's employees embarked on a nationwide strike, the United Association of South Africa (Uasa) said.

"From the information we've got no SAA flights have taken off yet from Johannesburg and Cape Town," said Uasa aviation working unit spokesperson Gerhard Ueckermann on Friday at 6.30am.

"No cabin crew have arrived for work. They are standing outside picketing," he said.

Uasa said on Thursday thousands of its members would take part in the strike following a deadlock in pay negotiations.

Uasa is the largest representative union of ground staff and cabin crew at SAA.

It was not yet clear whether members of fellow trade union, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) were also on strike. The union held talks with SAA on Thursday night.

Both unions demand an eight-percent increase while SAA is offering five percent.

"No meeting took place with Uasa and South African Airways. The meeting scheduled by SAA with the union for 2pm was postponed to 5pm. But at 4.30pm today (Thursday) the union gave the company notice of its intention to strike," Uasa aviation working unit spokesperson Gerhard Ueckermann told Sapa on Thursday.

He said SAA refused to meet for informal talks with the union after it gave notice. "This means that within 12 hours, union members will go out on strike."

Uasa's general manager Andre Venter said the "latest developments resulted from various unacceptable actions on the side of management.

He said all incoming and outgoing domestic flights and outgoing international flights would be disrupted.

"But we will try not to disrupt incoming flights from overseas (and African international flights)."

Earlier on Thursday, Satawu general secretary Randall Howard told reporters in Johannesburg: "Satawu stands ready, is mobilised and united together in the struggle to advance the pay of our members.

"We intend to commence the strike nationally in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg from 4.30am tomorrow (Friday)".

Howard said the union would pursue every avenue and make every effort to engage with SAA. The 3000 union members nation-wide included ground staff and cabin crew.

"They are in very strategic places, and a pilot cannot fly a plane without a crew on board," said Randall.

SAA spokesperson Onkgopotse Tabane confirmed that no meeting took place on Thursday.

"There was no meeting because the union went on to issue a notice to strike instead of coming to the meeting."

Tabane said arrangements had been made for operations to run as normal.

"Contingency plans are in place to counter any possible interruptions. These include combining flights, using larger aircraft on routes, and management helping to check passengers in."

SAA advised passengers to check in at airports well in advance to avoid any delays.

Regular updates on the strike would be posted on the Regular updates on the strike would be posted on the SAA website.

Sapa

SA COMPANIES & BUSINESS INFO Trying to find your way around South Africa's corporate landscape? Looking for a info on a particular company or sector? After the latest business, financial or market news? Here's a quick directory of links to get you started.

MORE BUSINESS NEWS Fronting has cost govt R400m Barclays has voting control of Absa AngloGold granted new order rights Telkom slams Icasa internet report S&P upgrades SA's credit ratings Kebble mining houses suspended Cadiz reports solid earnings Tongaat-Hulett earnings soar SARB gets a new deputy governor Mercantile returns to profit Matodzi posts year loss Brace for another petrol price hike 'Willing buyer/willing seller' rejected 500 000 jobs created in SA Producer inflation slows in June