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SCANDINAVIAN

SAS unveils massive cost-cutting bid

Scandinavian airline SAS announced plans on Monday to slash 3 billion kronor ($445 million) in costs, with at least 800 jobs to be cut in what the company's CEO has labelled "the final call" for the troubled airline.

Published: 12 November 2012 08:27 CET
SAS unveils massive cost-cutting bid

The airline announced on Monday that ground service and a Norwegian subsidiary will be sold, following a crisis meeting over the weekend.

Furthermore, 800 jobs at the airline will be slashed, according to the TT news agency, and negotiations have already begun for salary reductions.

“The Board has given its unanimous support to this plan and recommends that all of the company’s employees support it as well,” SAS wrote in a statement.

The plan will result in annual savings of around 3 billion kronor and will also see some of SAS’s assets being sold for around 3 billion kronor. The company explained that this will make SAS less dependent on external lenders in the future.

“This truly is our ‘final call’ if there is to be a SAS in the future. We have been given this final chance to make a fresh start and to carry on these fundamental changes,” Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO of SAS, said in a statement.

“I know that we are asking a lot of our employees, but there is no other way. I hope that our loyal and dedicated employees are willing to fight for the survival of SAS and for our jobs.

“If we do this, we will be able to invest in new aircraft in the long term and to further develop our operations. This will ensure that SAS will continue to play an important role for millions of people in Scandinavia in the future,” he said.

The SAS CEO told the TT news agency that most salaries will be cut by around 15 percent, while he plans to take a 20 percent pay cut.

The divestments and job cuts shave 6,000 positions from SAS payrolls. According to Gustafson, the airline will have around 9,000 employees following implementation of the savings package.

The savings plan announcement coincided with the delayed release of SAS’s third quarter results, which showed the airline increased profits by nearly 300 million kronor to 568 million kronor.

Income increased by a half a billion kronor to 11.1 billion kronor.

Meanwhile, the Swedish government, which owns just over 20 percent of the airline, making it SAS’s largest single shareholder, signaled on Monday is has no plans to provide additional capital to the struggling carrier.

“As a responsible owner, the government is willing to create the conditions for a limited time that will allow SAS to carry out the comprehensive changes called for by the business plan,” Financial Markets Minister Peter Norman said in a statement.

Norman added however, that responsibility for implementing the changes “rests with SAS” and that agreeing to extend a loan does not entail any fresh injections of cash from the Swedish state.

In addition, the government is looking to sell its stake in the crisis-ridden airline.

“The government’s ambition is to continue to look for another owner for SAS,” the government said.

“The new business plan makes SAS more attractive for a potential buyer, and thus increases the possibilities for the state to reduce its ownership stake in the company.”

The airline’s problems have persisted in recent years and the firm has struggled to keep up with competitors. High salaries, pensions liabilities and an ageing fleet have all contributed to the company’s perilous state.

The last time the firm’s problems came to a head, in 2010, cabin staff backed down and accepted lower pay and conditions. A savings package carried out between 2009 and 2011 meant 4,600 jobs disappeared from the airline.

SAS shares climbed 8 percent in opening trading on the Stockholm stock exchange on Monday, climbing to a price of around seven kronor per share.

TT/The Local/og

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

Published: 8 December 2023 14:34 CET
OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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