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SAS

SAS Cargo admits guilt in US price-fixing case

The cargo subsidiary of SAS, SAS Cargo, along with several other airline companies, has admitted to forming a price-fixing cartel in violation of US competition law, according to the US Department of Justice.

“Infringement of competition rules is and has always been entirely unacceptable and I condemn it unreservedly,” said SAS Group CEO and President Mats Jansson in a statement.

The company must now pay a $52 million fine as a penalty for having fixed prices in the air cargo business along with Air France, KLM, and Cathay Pacific Airways.

“The price-fixing conspiracy acknowledged here today undermines our economy and harms the American people who, due to the lack of true competition in this area, end up footing the bill,” said Associate US Attorney General Kevin O’Connor in a statement.

SAS

‘We agree to disagree’: Still no progress in marathon SAS strike talks

By lunchtime on Friday, talks between the Scandinavian airline SAS and unions representing striking pilots were still stuck on "difficult issues".

'We agree to disagree': Still no progress in marathon SAS strike talks

“We agree that we disagree,” Roger Klokset, from the Norwegian pilots’ union, said at lunchtime outside the headquarters of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise in Stockholm, where talks are taking place. “We are still working to find a solution, and so long as there is still some point in continuing negotiations, we will do that.” 

Mats Ruland, a mediator for the Norwegian government, said that there were “still several difficult issues which need to be solved”. 

At 1pm on Friday, the two sides took a short break from the talks for lunch, after starting at 9am. On Thursday, they negotiated for 15 hours, breaking off at 1am on Friday morning. 

READ ALSO: What’s the latest on the SAS plane strike?

Marianne Hernæs, SAS’s negotiator on Friday told journalists she was tired after sitting at the negotiating table long into the night. 

“We need to find a model where we can meet in the middle and which can ensure that we pull in the income that we are dependent on,” she said. 

Klokset said that there was “a good atmosphere” in the talks, and that the unions were sticking together to represent their members.

“I think we’ve been extremely flexible so far. It’s ‘out of this world’,’ said Henrik Thyregod, with the Danish pilots’ union. 

“This could have been solved back in December if SAS had not made unreasonable demands on the pilots,” Klokset added. 

The strike, which is now in its 12th day, has cost SAS up to 130m kronor a day, with 2,550 flights cancelled by Thursday, affecting 270,000 passengers. 

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