Scandinavian Airlines Pilots Announce Strike for the End of June

Copenhagen — Hundreds of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) pilots have announced a strike set to start at the end of June.

Following failed negotiations between the pilots' unions and the company, SAS and the authorities have been informed of the plans, the Swedish pilots' union SPF said on Thursday.

SPF said no agreement had been reached since the start of talks in November. The pilots plan to go on strike in Norway, Sweden and Denmark from June 29.Among other things, the pilots' union accused SAS management of using the Covid-19 pandemic the past two years to dismiss almost half of the pilots with an agreed right to reinstatement, but then overriding the option.

Collective agreements also expired on March 31 without a new one being reached. After a proposal for significant savings was rejected by the SAS management, they see no other option than strikes and seeking a solution through arbitration.

SAS, which has been financially unstable, criticized the move. It showed an appalling lack of understanding of the situation the airline was in, communications chief Karin Nyman told the Swedish news agency TT. The company is struggling each day and everyone must contribute, she said. The demands made were impossible.

According to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, around 900 pilots in Scandinavia could go on strike and about 250 flights and 45,000 passengers could be affected per day.

The last strike of SAS pilots in 2019 lasted seven days. Almost 4,000 flights in Denmark, Sweden and Norway were cancelled at that time and a total of 360,000 travellers were affected.

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