Economy. cancellations and stranded travelers. Pilot strike creates chaos for SAS travelers. Holiday season means that many flights are fully booked and rebooking possibilities are small. And yet there is no solution to the conflict in sight.
the Swedish SAS pilots’ strike is in its second day. Approximately 20,000 passengers affected by canceled 159 flights today. Already yesterday hit about 4 000 passengers when the strike was declared after negotiations between the union and the employer failed.
– We regret that the situation looks like it is doing and that our customers can not fly as planned, says Karin Nyman, Director of communications at SAS.
Swedish Pilots’ Association (SPF) has among other things made demands for wage increases of 3.5 percent and that the wage system should apply to both new employees who have worked a long time . When the union failed to reach agreement with the employer, Swedish aviation industry, solved the SPF out her notice of 400 SAS-employed pilots based at the airport.
Stranded charter travelers
The strike affects SAS flights that would flown by Swedish pilots. Flights that are made with hired operators and long-haul flights to the US, for example, are not affected.
Those particularly affected are charter companies that are now looking feverishly for replacement flights for stranded passengers.
– this hit very, very hard against us. Right now we have 5000 customers who are not going anywhere, says Ann-Sofie Olsson, press officer at the tour operator Apollo.
Apollo suffer because the company has chartered plane from SAS for a portion of their flights. 2400 by the company’s customers is therefore fixed at various destinations, while another 2400 will set off on their planned trips.
Hard to reschedule
When the stranded passengers can travel home is unclear.
– We have tried to hire aircraft, but it’s really hard. We therefore announced our customers the night we set all flights were done with SAS today. There is no capacity, says Ann-Sofie Olsson.
Wing currently has more than 300 travelers stuck at various destinations, and Fritidsresor 250. Fritidsresor has been set a departure but has found replacement air for 750 of its SAS passengers.
France travelers may also suffer from the Air France pilots have announced a strike between 11 and 14 June. According to Air France, the majority of the company’s flights go as planned, but urges passengers to keep an eye on the website for more information.
The strike has broken out in the SAS absolute peak season causes problems.
– of course it is full of many flights as rebooking possibilities are not the very best. We do everything we can to help in the best way and find alternatives for our travelers, says Karin Nyman at SAS.
Canceled negotiations
– We are extremely disappointed that we have ended up here. It is a big failure for both parties, says Wilhelm Tersmeden, vice chairman of the SPF.
The parties to the conflict have not had any contact since negotiations were broken on Friday. Both say they are open to further negotiations, but waiting for the other party’s initiative. Yet there is no date for a new meeting.
– We have accepted the mediators’ offer, they have declined. We can not run and chase them. We look forward to coming back to the negotiating table, says Mattias Dahl, CEO of the Swedish aviation industry.
He rules out there, but employers currently has no intention to declare their own action.
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