New problems for SAS after the strike
SAS said they should get on the wings within 24 hours. Over three days later, a number of flights continue to be canceled.
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The strike ended night to Tuesday this week. Then the SAS management said that the planes should be back in normal operation within 48 hours.
But still, the traffic is characterized by settings.
More than three days have passed since the end of the strike. SAS has already canceled 19 departures on Friday. Both domestic and international flights are affected, according to Avinor. On Thursday, 30 departures were canceled, NTB reported.
Press manager Tonje Sund in SAS Norway says that the reason is complex.
– The cancellations are a combination of the fact that there have been unforeseen technical problems on a few aircraft and a shortage of crew. It propagates throughout the system. Therefore, the entire start-up after the strike will take longer, she says.
Technical difficulties
The manpower shortage can deal with the disease at short notice. Sund also points out that delays mean that the crew cannot continue to fly.
– The rest time regulations in the aviation industry are strict for safety reasons. We do not want to compromise on them, she says.
Sund rejects at SAS was ill-prepared for the end of the strike and the resumption of traffic.
– It takes some time to get all the planes in the air after they have been on the ground for 15 days. Once an aircraft has been parked, they must go through a routine check and possibly also a test flight. It’s about security.
SAS tries to deal with the technical problems as quickly as possible. Extra crew is on its way from Copenhagen to Oslo Airport, according to the press officer.
Bringing in extra crew
The airline encourages passengers to show up as usual if they have not received another message.
– If you are affected, you will receive a direct message from us. Most of the traffic goes as usual, says Sund.
She does not know what proportion of settings are due to strikes, technical problems or manpower shortages.
– When will everything go as normal?
– As quickly as possible. It also depends on whether there are unforeseen events, she answers.
Moved employees to subsidiaries
The strike among the SAS pilot lasted for 15 days. Just over 2,500 flights in Norway have been canceled during the period, according to NTB.
Negotiations began in November last year. Only on Tuesday did they reach an agreement.
The core of the conflict was employment in SAS’s subsidiaries SAS Link and SAS Connect. Several thousand pilots in SAS have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. When they were hired again, someone got other terms even earlier.
The new agreement will be valid for five years. The agreement means that the dismissed pilots can return. Regardless of where in SAS they are employed, they receive the same conditions.