SAS and pilots to resume negotiations on Monday after 14 days of strike

SAS airplanes are parked on the Oslo Airport Gardermoen, as Scandinavian airways (SAS) pilots go on strike, Norway July 4, 2022. Beate Oma Dahle/NTB by way of REUTERS

STOCKHOLM, July 17 (Reuters) – Ailing Scandinavian airline SAS (SAS.ST) and hanging pilot unions will resume negotiations on Monday, public broadcaster NRK mentioned, after failing to succeed in new collective agreements over the weekend.

Most SAS pilots in Sweden, Denmark and Norway walked out on July 4 after talks over circumstances associated to the provider’s rescue plan collapsed. The events returned to the negotiating desk within the Swedish capital final Wednesday. learn extra

“We are actually going dwelling after 37 hours to get some sleep,” Henrik Thyregod, head of the Danish pilots’ union, mentioned as he left the Stockholm venue the place negotiations are held, NRK reported.

Norwegian pilot union consultant Roger Klokset had mentioned earlier on Sunday that the events could have come nearer to a deal in a single day.

“Possibly. However I do not know whether or not there might be an settlement but,” he mentioned.

SAS, the primary house owners of that are Sweden and Denmark, had been struggling to compete with low-cost competitors for years earlier than the pandemic slammed the trade. It wants to draw new traders and safe bridge financing, saying that it should first slash prices to attain these targets.

Pilots employed within the 75-year-old provider’s SAS Scandinavia subsidiary final week mentioned they might comply with restricted wage cuts and fewer beneficial phrases, however SAS mentioned the concessions supplied weren’t sufficient for it to hold out a rescue plan introduced in February. learn extra

Unions additionally demand that pilots axed through the pandemic are rehired at SAS Scandinavia fairly than having to compete with exterior candidates for jobs on much less engaging phrases at not too long ago created SAS Hyperlink and Eire-based SAS Join.

On Saturday a mediator mentioned the events had made progress, however important points had but to be resolved. learn extra

The airline mentioned on Thursday that the strike had precipitated 2,550 flight cancellations, affecting 270,000 passengers and costing it between $94 million and $123 million. The Swedish authorities has mentioned it’s going to present no more money.

For Sunday, 164 SAS flights, or 62% of these scheduled, have been cancelled, in accordance with flight-tracking platform FlightAware. Pilots at SAS Hyperlink and SAS Join usually are not on strike.

Reporting by Helena Soderpalm, Anna Ringstrom and Johan Ahlander,
Enhancing by David Goodman and Frank Jack Daniel

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