- SAS says strike threatens ability to arrange bridge financing
- Costly strike will enter 12th day on Friday
The devastating strike, which the airline claimed threatened its ability to obtain bridge funding without which it could be forced to drastically reduce its operations or even collapse, was not resolved between SAS (SAS.ST) and pilot unions on Thursday.
At the height of the holiday travel season, most of SAS’s pilots are on strike over terms of the Scandinavian carrier’s rescue plan. SAS and the unions were in negotiations all day Thursday to put an end to the walkout. They halted discussions shortly after midnight on Friday as the strike entered its twelfth day. Later that day, they would continue.
According to mediator Mats Ruland, “there are a number of problems that are significant for both parties that must be settled in order to achieve an agreement.”
The governments of Sweden and Denmark are the primary owners of SAS, which earlier on Thursday claimed the walkout jeopardised its ability to raise crucial money to support its reorganisation.
According to a statement from SAS, “in such a scenario, the business will need to contemplate selling significant strategic assets under duress as well as dramatically shrinking SAS’s operations and fleet.”
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Following a failure to reach an agreement on July 4, the parties started bargaining together once more on Wednesday. View More
According to FlightAware, the airline cancelled 201 flights on Thursday, or 64% of the total planned.
Flights operated by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) are listed at the Copenhagen airport on July 3, 2022. Andrew Kelly for Reuters
According to SAS, the strike has already resulted in 2,550 flight cancellations, which have cost them between $94 million and $123 million and affected 270,000 passengers. It has issued a warning that if the strike continues, its meagre cash reserves will swiftly disappear.
The long-struggling SAS filed for bankruptcy on July 5, needing to reduce expenses and find new investors to survive.
CEO Anko van der Werff stated on Thursday that “the strike is putting the success of the Chapter 11 proceedings and, ultimately, the existence of the company at jeopardy.”
However, SAS claimed the concessions made so far are not sufficient for it to carry out a rescue plan outlined in February. Pilots working by SAS Scandinavia, an unit of SAS Group, have stated they would accept modest wage cuts and less favourable terms.
Unions are also calling for the rehiring of pandemic-affected pilots at SAS Scandinavia rather than forcing them to compete with outside candidates for positions with less desirable terms at the recently established SAS Link and SAS Connect in Ireland.
Danish mechanics, who had been on strike in solidarity with the pilots, said on Thursday that they were calling off their protest. As a result, SAS planes in Copenhagen will now be repaired and will be ready to take off as soon as an agreement with the pilots is struck.
The mechanics in Sweden are not on strike. SAS Connect and SAS Link pilots are not striking either.
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