10/4/2023 0 Comments Sas flightsIt just started flying between Europe and the US this past summer, with a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft it took over from Norwegian Air after it went into bankruptcy reorganization. PHOTO: FlyrĪnother upstart airline, the intercontinental Norse Atlantic, has also been worried about “a rough winter” as both its cash holdings and share price tumbled this fall. There’s been lots of drama flying around the new Norwegian airline Flyr this week. It has cut routes, laid off half of its roughly 300 employees and is concentrating only on the most popular routes from Norway to southern Europe this winter. The airline managed to meet a new deadline for NOK 400 million in new capital this week, but the situation prompted Norway’s consumer council to adviser travelers to “consider other airlines” if they planned trips to southern Europe with Flyr since it’s been facing bankruptcy, too. The new Oslo-based airline Flyr, meanwhile, has become popular with travelers but has burned through most of the capital put up by initial investors led by the heir to the former SAS rival Braathens SAFE. Short-haul carrier Widerøe reported last week that it expects “a difficult winter” in a market “plagued by unpredictability.” Those issues are affecting other airlines in Norway, too, that also are suffering from high fuel costs, a weak krone and economic uncertainty. Business travel hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, inflation is taking a toll and leisure travel has been affected by everything from economic concerns to the security situation in Europe after Russia invaded Ukraine. The new cancellations are the result of delayed delivery of new aircraft, staffing shortages and changes in the passenger market. The airline also remains in bankruptcy proceedings in the US, has been ordered to pay fines for failing to reimburse passengers affected by the pilots’ strike, and has dropped around 1,700 departures this fall. SAS, meanwhile, wants flight attendants to be able to work as many as 60 hours a week and a maximum of 190 hours per month, and be available 24 hours a day if they’re on “stand by.” The airline’s management also stresses that SAS is in deep financial trouble after the pilots’ strike finally ended, with losses totalling more than half-a-billion Swedish kroner in September alone and SEK 7.1 billion during the nine months from Novemthrough September 30. SAS flight attendants aren’t smiling like they were were several years ago, and they’re earning less now than in 2012. They’re demanding raises of at least 3.7 percent but also believe, as did SAS’ pilots, that principles are also at stake, not just pay. The flight attendants claim their current top pay of NOK 36,826 a month (USD 40,000 a year) is lower now than it was in 2012. If mediation fails, they’re still threatening to walk off the job just like SAS pilots did in June. That will rise to NOK 470,000 at Oslo’s public transit agency.Īfter months of delays followed by the last two months of unsuccessful negotiations between flight attendants in Norway and SAS, the two sides went into voluntary meetings with a state mediator on Thursday. She’s been earning NOK 320,000 a year (just over USD 30,000) at SAS. Scores of frustrated SAS flight attendants have already quit, with one telling state broadcaster NRK this week that she’ll earn much more money in her new job as a tram driver in Oslo than as a flight attendant working 47.5 hours a week for SAS. They’re hindered by allegedly overworked and underpaid employees, rising costs, a lack of capital and a decline in both business and leisure travel. All airlines, especially SAS, need to fill up their aircraft and start earning money again. While upstart Flyr has been scrambling to recapitalize, veteran SAS remains caught in a crisis that will worsen if it fails to avert another strike by flight attendants who complain they’re overworked and underpaid. All of Norway’s airines are bracing for a rough winter season, and in some cases just hoping to stay aloft.
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