SAS pilots in Norway, Sweden and Denmark to strike after talks break down

Some 900 pilots from airline SAS in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, are set to hold strike action after the company and the pilots' unions failed to reach an agreement before Monday afternoon's deadline. Some 45,000 passengers could be affected daily.

Published: 4 July 2022 13:14 CEST

SAS pilots in Norway, Sweden and Denmark will go on strike. File photo: an aircraft of the Scandinavian airline (SAS) parked on the tarmac at the airport of Manchester in England. Photo by Christof Stache / AFP.

Scandinavian airline SAS and pilots’ unions in Norway, Denmark and Sweden have failed to reach an agreement to prevent a strike, meaning 900 pilots will go on strike this week.

“How on earth is a strike in the busiest week of the last two-and-a-half years going to help us find and attract investors,” SAS chief executive Anko van der Werff told reporters, criticising what he called a “strike culture” among pilots.

SAS and unions had set a deadline of midday Monday to strike a deal. The strike comes after the two parties agreed to extend the deadline for talks several times in the hopes of coming to an agreement.

The pilots are employed by SAS’s parent company, SAS Scandinavia, and announced strike action because they are unsatisfied with their salary and working conditions.

“We deeply regret that our customers are affected by this strike, leading to delays and cancelled flights,” van der Werff said in a statement.

In addition, the pilots are dissatisfied that instead of re-employing old SAS pilots, priority is given to hiring new pilots on cheaper agreements in the two subsidiaries, SAS Link and SAS Connect.

The airline says that 30,000 passengers a day could be affected and 50 percent of all flights could be affected. It is unclear how long the strike will last. Swedish newswire TT reports that as many as 45,000 passengers could be affected.

Pilots will begin striking once they return to the airport they operate out of. SAS said that it expected all pilots to be out on strike within 24 hours.

Travellers can check the status of their flight and the likelihood of it being cancelled here. An information centre for affected passengers has been set up at Oslo Gardermoen Airport by SAS and Avinor, which operates Norwegian airports.

Member comments

Anonymous - 4 July 2022 at 21:52 CEST

What is happening here is a disgrace.
SAS pilots had an agreement whereby a promise to be reinstated of they lost their jobs during the pandemic. This promise was to run for 5 years.
Other European airlines, like mine, Air France, where pumped gazillions of euros by the state. Just like Lufthansa did, many were invited to leave with a hefty financial incentive, all the while SAS was throwing 40 % of its workforce on the street.
Then, forget the agreement, SAS starts hiring new pilots in an Irish working agreement kind of shell, of course much cheaper.
And one is surprised to see these guys striking ?
Pilots do not have a strike culture, tu they get mighty cranky when one’s word isn’t kept.
What is happening is this CEO own making.
You did it……gave the music now.

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