In ballots in their respective countries, they agreed to the agreement with the airline, as several unions involved announced on Saturday. The Scandinavian airline is thus avoiding another pilot strike of the kind it experienced for two weeks in the course of a wage dispute in July. It cost the SAS millions, and more than 3,700 flights were cancelled.
In Denmark, 89 percent of the pilots entitled to vote participated, 93 percent of whom voted in favor of the collective agreement. The trade unions initially left open the question of how large the majority was in Norway and Sweden. The full result should be available next week.
On July 19, after tough negotiations, the trade unions and the SAS agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement that was set to run for five and a half years. The pilots will therefore receive five percent less salary, they should also fly more in the high season in summer and less in winter. Overall, the pilots are about a quarter cheaper for the financially troubled airline. At the same time, the agreement means that hundreds of pilots who were made redundant in the corona pandemic will be reinstated.
The Swedish pilots’ union said many members showed solidarity with the younger pilots while showing a lot of responsibility for the company in a difficult situation.
On the stock exchange in Stockholm, SAS shares temporarily gained 6.88 percent to SEK 0.69 on Monday.
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