How much longer will SAS be able to cope? Tuesday, July 5, the Scandinavian airline asked to be placed under the bankruptcy regime, in the United States, in order to carry out a reconstruction sheltered from its creditors. On Monday, its 900 pilots went on strike for an indefinite period. According to the management, 250 flights and 30,000 passengers are expected to remain grounded every day, resulting in a daily cost of 100 million to 150 million crowns (9.3 million to 14 million euros) for the company.
In Scandinavia, the difficulties of SAS are no secret to anyone. For months, the setbacks have been linked: endless delays, departures canceled at the last moment, services canceled without even informing the ticket holders… In May, the company announced the cancellation of 4,000 flights until in August, about 5% of its traffic, due to staff shortages and delays in the delivery of new aircraft.
The pilots’ strike, called during the summer holidays, is only added to this long list. The standoff between the unions and management began in March, when it was necessary to renegotiate the collective agreements, which had expired.
The main point of conflict concerns the return to their post of the 560 pilots, sacked during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the moment, only 120 have found their jobs. The others were replaced by pilots recruited through low-cost subsidiaries (SAS Connect, based in Ireland, and SAS Link) offering poorer working conditions and in violation of the law which guarantees priority rehiring for five years. . denouncing “social dumping”the main Swedish trade union, Svensk Pilotförening, nevertheless recalls that “SAS pilots have one of the cheapest collective agreements in Europe, extremely competitive compared to competitors”.
These work up to 47.5 hours per week. They are only entitled to 18 days of vacation in the summer and can work seven weekends out of eight. A young pilot earns 37,712 crowns per month (3,504 euros). Revenues have not increased since 2002, assures Svensk Pilotförening. According to the union, the pilots were ready to accept the status quo, provided that management recalls their colleagues. But the company refused: “They choose to put us on strike, it’s totally incomprehensible. We now find ourselves in an absurd situation where we are striking for deteriorating working conditions”reacted the president of the union, Martin Lindgren, on July 5.
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