SAS and pilot unions agree to end strike

Scandinavian airline SAS and the unions that represent its pilots announced Tuesday they have reached an agreement ending a two-week strike that has been costing the ailing airline between $9 million and $12 million a day.

The agreement to end the strike after 15 days was confirmed by both the company and the unions after a negotiation session ran Monday into the early hours of Tuesday.

“I am pleased to announce that we have now reached an agreement with all four pilot unions for SAS Scandinavia and the strike is over,” CEO Anko van der Werff said in a statement.

“Finally we can resume normal operations and fly our customers on their long-awaited summer holidays. I deeply regret that so many of our passengers have been affected by this strike,” he added.

A new agreement, covering the next five and a half years, means that “flights operated by SAS Scandinavia will resume as soon as possible according to their regular schedule of operations,” the company said.

“SAS pilots have taken responsibility for signing a new agreement with SAS and the strike is coming to an end,” the Swedish Airline Pilots’ Association (SPF) said in a separate statement, adding that it was “an extraordinary and very demanding negotiation.” ” has been.

Pilots have been on strike since July 4, when nearly 1,000 of them quit their jobs after talks broke down.

They were protesting pay cuts management was demanding as part of a restructuring plan to ensure the company’s survival and the company’s decision not to rehire pilots laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the new deal, 450 pilots will be reinstated.

A day after the strike began, SAS announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, and van der Werff warned last week that the ongoing strike put Chapter 11 proceedings and “ultimately the survival of the company” at stake “.

When the suspension came into its tenth day, SAS said it had already cost around 1 billion to 1.3 billion Swedish kronor ($94 to 123 million or €94 to 123 million) with more than 2,500 flights canceled .

The CEO also said the strike is also having “a serious impact on our ability to succeed with SAS Forward,” the cost-cutting program the ailing company launched in February.

While the airline said it could meet its commitments in the short term, it warned that cash reserves “will erode very quickly in light of an ongoing pilot strike.”

SAS, which employs almost 7,000 people mainly in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, is also aiming to raise around 9.5 billion kroner in fresh capital.

“We are now continuing with the important work of moving forward with our SAS FORWARD transformation plan and building a strong and competitive SAS for generations to come,” said van der Werff on Tuesday.

The summer as a whole is proving difficult for European airlines and airports, which are facing staff shortages that are affecting air traffic.

Following widespread job losses linked to Covid-19, airlines and airports in many countries are struggling to hire new staff.