SAS strike ends as unions reach deal
May 3, 2019
Scandinavian airline SAS announced late on Thursday that management had reached a deal with pilot unions to end a weeklong strike that forced some 4,000 flights to be canceled and stranded over 380,000 passengers.
"I can with relief inform our customers and our staff that we now can put this conflict behind us. We have tonight signed a new collective agreement with our four pilot unions," said CEO Rickard Gustafson.
Gustafson said the two sides had agreed to a 3.5% pay increase and more predictability in work schedules and job security.
Normal service within 24 hours
Pilots for the airline, which is partly owned by the Danish and Swedish governments, walked off the job last Friday, mostly in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
The workers' action was estimated to have cost the airline 60-80 million Swedish krona (€5.6-7.4 million or $6.2-8.3 million) a day.
Pilots had been seeking a 13% wage increase to make up for massive pay cuts that came in 2012, when SAS had been close to bankruptcy. Executives at the airline had said such a pay rise could seriously damage the company's competitiveness.
Gustafson has said that normal service should be fully resumed within 24 hours.
es/cmk (AFP, Reuters)