SAS pilots strike a deal

Beginning this morning all flights are back on schedule but it will be some time for things to be back to normal with 100,000 passengers affected. 

  • Financials are improving enough that pilots went on strike - and negotiated a slight raise. And even after a troublesome period for SAS, it was recently named the Best European Airline.
  • After four days of botched travel plans for its customers, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Swedish Pilot's Association came to an agreement and ended the pilot strike which began just before a busy travel weekend. On Tuesday, June 14, the Pilot Union accepted a 2.2 percent raise after their demand for a pay raise of 3.5 percent inspired much negotiation. The strike meant the cancellation of 1,000 flights during this busy time of year with close to 100,000 passengers affected, but the airline is returning to normal as quickly as possible. “I really regret that so many of our customers have been affected by this strike," said Richard Gustafson, CEO of SAS. The new agreement is backdated to April 1 and will be valid through April 1, 2017.
    SAS, which is 50 percent owned by the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian states, has said it is too early to calculate how much money it has lost because of the strike, but financial analysts have estimated it was costing the airline at least $1.2 million a day.
    The airline did return to profit in 2015 but it managed net earnings of only 171 million kronor ($20.6 million) in the second quarter of this year despite low fuel costs due to fierce competition and exchange rate swings