Members of the SAS Scandinavia pilots’ unions have been called out on strike. The strike yields cancellations across the flight schedule and thousands of travelers are affected.
Monday, July 4: SAS Group issued a press release on Monday (July 4) stating, “Since the notice of conflict was delivered on June 9, mediation between the pilots’ unions and SAS has been held. The strike follows as a consequence of the parties have been unable to reach an agreement. SAS wishes to continue mediation to be able to reach an agreement and end the strike as soon as possible.”
“We deeply regret that our customers are affected by this strike, leading to delays and cancelled flights. We know all our passengers have been longing for this summer holiday and have booked travels for themselves and their loved ones. SAS employees are working hard to help our customers that have been affected by this unfortunate situation.
A strike at this point is devastating for SAS and puts the company’s future together with the jobs of thousands of colleagues at stake. The decision to go on strike now demonstrates reckless behaviour from the pilots’ unions and a shockingly low understanding of the critical situation that SAS is in,” says Anko van der Werff, President & CEO.
The strike is estimated to lead to the cancellation of approximately 50 % of all scheduled SAS flights and impact around 30,000 passengers per day. The flights operated by SAS Link, SAS Connect and SAS’ external partners are not affected by the strike.
The strike has a negative impact on the liquidity and financial position of the company and, if prolonged, such impact could become material.
Anko van der Werff concludes “We are ready to resume mediation as soon as possible and we will do our utmost to reach an agreement that is viable to secure the long-term competitiveness and financial sustainability of the company. We presume that the SAS Scandinavia pilots’ unions realize what is at stake and choose to continue the work to find an agreement.”
The group also informed, “Due to peak season, the possibility to rebook affected customers to equivalent flights will be highly limited. Customers whose flights are cancelled, that we are unable to find viable alternatives for, are offered the options of either accepting a refund or rebooking their ticket to a later date or arranging alternative means of travelling themselves and seeking reimbursement from SAS.”
