Over 200 SAS cancellations before a possible pilot strike
SAS announces cancellations of 205 departures across Scandinavia as a «preventive measure» ahead of a possible strike among its pilots. The mediation deadline expires at midnight.
SAS states that the company is taking precautions to «minimize the consequences for both travellers and employees».
“This means that a number of flights will be cancelled on April 26th before noon to avert that both travellers and crew are unable to return home,” the company writes on its website.
Communications Manager of SAS, Knut Morten Johansen, informs VG that it affects 205 flights, mainly morning departures, throughout Scandinavia.
“We want to be proactive – cancel these departures – and move those affected over to other departures. We do this in order to safeguard our customers, enabling them to avoid chaos,” Johansen informs.
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Cancellations no matter what happens
The flights will be cancelled even if a pilot strike is averted.
44 SAS departures are cancelled between 6 am and noon on Friday from Oslo Airport alone. A mere seven departures are according to their regular schedule.
The parties involved in the conflict, the trade union Parat and NHO Aviation, are gathered at the office of the National Mediator in Oslo.
The pilots primarily demand higher salaries and less week end work. The claims are deemed as «completely out there» by SAS.
A strike in SAS may be a godsend to Norwegian Airlines, who lost NOK 2 billion in the first quarter. Founder of Norwegian categorically denies that the competitor will up their prices in order to profit from a possible strike affecting approximately 60,000 travellers.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
