OSLO/COPENHAGEN/STOCKHOLM - SAS pilots in Norway, Sweden and Denmark went on strike on Friday as wage talks broke down, threatening the travel plans of some 170,000 passengers over the weekend.SAS is in the midst of renewing an ageing fleet after spending years cutting costs in the face of competition from budget carriers such as Norwegian Air Shuttle and Ryanair.“This strike delays everything,” said Mexican tourist Carmen Sosa, 50, who was stranded at Oslo’s Gardermoen airport.
SAS said it was prepared to continue to negotiate, but that if the pilots’ requirements were to be met, they would have “very negative consequences” for the company. SAS airplanes are seen parked on the tarmac as SAS pilots go on strike at Oslo Airport in Gardermoen, Norway April 26, 2019. NTB Scanpix/Ole Berg-Rusten via REUTERS
The aviation industry’s employer body in Sweden said pilots held onto their “extreme wage claims”, demanding a 13 percent wage increase despite what it calls already high average wages of 93,000 Swedish crowns a month. The SAS Pilot Group, a union representing 95 percent of the airline’s pilots in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, said in a statement it had tried to gain greater transparency about working hours.
Kære piloter.