The Norwegian SAS Pilots’ Association (NSF) has announced that they will take all 254 pilots on strike from day one.
SAS Norge Flygerforening (SNF) takes out all its 148 pilots.
In total, all their 402 pilots, captains and helmsmen are on strike.
In Denmark, approx. 250 pilots for SAS Scandinavia.
In Sweden, there are 240 pilots.
In total, close to 900 pilots employed by SAS Scandinavia will then be taken out from night to 29 June.
Earlier this week, aircraft mechanics in SAS organized under Dansk Metal announced a sympathy strike for the pilots. They will go on strike on July 5 if there is a pilot strike.
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This is what they argue about
In short, the conflict concerns the establishment of two subsidiaries, called SAS Link and SAS Connect.
Instead of taking back the 450 pilots who were laid off during the pandemic, SAS in these companies has hired pilots in these subsidiaries. On average, they have worse conditions than what the pilots in SAS have, according to the Norwegian Pilots’ Association.
The SAS pilots have sued the company for labor law . They believe the company has a responsibility to bring back the pilots, which SAS rejects.
At the same time, there have long been financial problems at SAS, and in February they came up with a plan to cut costs – called SAS Forward.
Through this, the management will cut costs by NOK 7.5 billion in annual costs until 2026.
– SAS does not have much to negotiate with. They must carry out the SAS Forward plan to cut costs, says the SAS expert.
SAS in Denmark and Sweden have now announced a lockout if the pilots go on strike – it is more common in these countries. See more in the fact box below.
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Therefore, SAS in Denmark and Sweden has announced a lockout
In Denmark and Sweden, SAS has announced a lockout against all pilots employed in these countries. In Norway, SAS has issued what is called a conditional redundancy notice.
Klokset believes it is natural for SAS to send lockout notices in Denmark and Sweden.
– In those countries, you do not have the redundancy schemes that we have in Norway. Therefore, they have used the lockout weapon. We can understand that. SAS only ensures that they do not have to sit and pay for pilots they are not allowed to use. For example, if we had taken out the captains but not the helmsmen, the planes would still not have been able to go, he told E24 earlier Friday.
Without going to the lockout, SAS in Sweden and Denmark then still had to pay the directors’ salaries during a conflict.
Source: E24
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SAS pilots: – Threatened to life
At the same time, the pilots believe they have put a good deal on the table.
Leader of the Norwegian SAS pilots’ association and deputy leader of the SAS Pilot Group Roger Klokset believes they have gone as far as they can:
– We put several concrete proposals on the table for savings of 25 percent. There are measures such as increasing the working week from 47 to a maximum of 60 hours for the pilots and also a seasonal flexibility where SAS can then for 5 months go down to 80 percent part-time. And a five percent pay cut.
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A LOT AT PLACE: Leader of the Norwegian SAS pilots’ association Roger Klokset believes it is “win or lose” for the pilots. Photo: Norwegian SAS pilots’ association
– We believe we went to great lengths to meet SAS. So far that it is probably in borderland if the members would agree on it in a referendum.
He says SAS has a long-term plan to distribute the aircraft fleet between SAS (45 aircraft) and the subsidiaries SAS Connect (45) and SAS Link (45). In comparison, today most aircraft have been added to SAS.
– We are threatened with life in that sense, for us it is win or lose. Then they really want us to be a third of the company.
– Much of the traffic will remain
Like aircraft analyst Pedersen, he says that CityJet can operate for SAS, but that it is up to SAS to choose which routes are taken out and Klokset says it is difficult to know which routes it will be.
Those who are not taken out are the planes that fly in the subsidiaries of SAS, where, among other things, CityJet flies for SAS.
– So there are a good number who will still operate. It is difficult to say which routes. But a lot of the traffic will remain, there is no doubt about that. SAS also has a lot of through traffic, they are dependent on several aircraft.
– It’s going to be ugly
If there is no strike, aviation analyst Pedersen says that you no matter the summer must cover you with chaos and waiting times . This is partly because most European airports have not been able to get enough people to operate all the jobs at the airport:
– Prepare to be patient – it’s going to be ugly at the airport. Travelers in Europe must learn to count to 5,000 so as not to explode at the airport. It will be anything but comfortable.
– One thing is to get you to your destination. Another is how to get home.
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