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SAS

SAS and pilot unions continue negotiations into weekend

The Scandinavian airline SAS and unions representing striking pilots were still continuing talks on Saturday, with an agreement by the end of the day deemed "unlikely."

Published: 16 July 2022 17:23 CEST
Updated: 16 July 2022 21:44 CEST
SAS and pilot unions continue negotiations into weekend
A passenger walks at Oslo airport. Photo by CORNELIUS POPPE / NTB SCANPIX / AFP

The negotiations, which are being held at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise in Stockholm, started on Wednesday and have included 15-hour days.

On Saturday morning, chief negotiator for SAS Marianne Hernæs told news agency TT that they would press ahead quickly but she doubted that an agreement would be reached by the end of the day.

The Norwegian mediator Mats Wilhelm Ruland, said there was a “sincere will to resolve this”. When asked if he had booked a flight home to Norway on Saturday night, he replied “no” with a laugh.

When Friday’s negotiations finished for the day, Ruland announced “progress” and said he was “optimistic” about Saturday’s continued talks.

About 1000 SAS pilots from Denmark, Norway and Sweden have been on strike since Monday 4th July. 

The pilots walked out last week after negotiations broke down. They are protesting against salary cuts demanded by management as part of a restructuring plan aimed at ensuring the survival of the company, and the firm’s decision not to re-hire pilots laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The strike, which is now in its 13th day, has cost SAS up to 130m kronor a day, with 2,550 flights cancelled by Thursday, affecting 270,000 passengers. 

READ MORE: What are your rights if flights are delayed or cancelled?

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SAS

Airline SAS fined over Covid rule breach on Copenhagen flight

Scandinavian airline SAS has been hit with a fine of a quarter of a million kroner for failing to comply with Covid-19 regulations in 2021.

Published: 9 April 2024 12:40 CEST
Airline SAS fined over Covid rule breach on Copenhagen flight

The company was found guilty at Copenhagen City Court of transporting 35 passengers without valid Covid-19 tests on a flight to Copenhagen Airport in spring 2021.

The passengers were on a flight from Mallorca, where they transferred at Copenhagen Airport before continuing to Stockholm.

SAS had been accused of similar violations involving individual passengers on other services, but was only found guilty in relation to the Mallorca flight.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How SAS’s decision to switch airline alliance will affect travellers

The airline had asked to be acquitted by the court, arguing there were a “long series of strong legal reasons” for this.

The prosecution had asked for a fine of 913,500 including the other cases which were not proven.

On the flight for which SAS was found to have violated Covid-19 travel restrictions which were in force at the time, 35 people flew from Palma Mallorca to Copenhagen, from there they waited for transit to Stockholm. They did not have negative Covid-19 tests taken within a recent enough time frame (under 24 hours was the requirement at the time).

SAS argued that the circumstances surrounding the flight were extraordinary: that the flight change in Copenhagen was only necessary because a direct Palma-Stockholm service had been cancelled.

An internal email presented by the company showed that passport control had approved the passengers’ test status over the phone.

But even if such a message had been given by passport control, it was not valid justification for allowing the passengers to board because it was not in line with the law, the prosecution said during an earlier stage of the trial.

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