Stockholm, July 17 (BNA) Struggling airline SAS (SAS.ST) and pilots’ unions continued talks on new collective agreements on Sunday after overnight negotiations, a union representative told reporters as the strike entered its 14th day.
Most of the SAS pilots in Sweden, Denmark and Norway pulled out on July 4 after talks broke down over terms related to the Scandinavian carrier’s rescue plan, Reuters reported.
The two sides returned to the negotiating table in the Swedish capital on Wednesday.
“We’ve been up this evening and we’ve been carrying on,” said Norwegian Pilots’ Union representative Roger Clossett during a break.
Clocust said the parties may have come close to a deal overnight.
“Maybe. But I don’t know if there will be an agreement yet,” he said.
SAS, principal owners of Sweden and Denmark, struggled to compete with low-cost competition for years before the pandemic criticized the industry. It needs to attract new investors and secure funding for the bridge, saying it must first cut costs to achieve these goals.
Pilots working for the 75-year-old carrier’s subsidiary, SAS Scandinavia, said last week they would agree to limited pay cuts and less favorable terms, but SAS said the concessions on offer were not enough to implement the bailout announced in February.
Unions are also calling for pilots put off during the pandemic to be rehired at Scandinavian SAS rather than having to compete with outside applicants for jobs on less attractive terms at the recently established SAS Link and Ireland-based SAS Connect.
On Saturday, a mediator said the two sides had made progress, but there were important unresolved issues.
On Thursday, the airline said the strike caused 2,550 flight cancellations, affecting 270,000 passengers and costing between $94 million and $123 million. The Swedish government has said it will not provide more money.
For Sunday, 164 SAS flights were canceled, or 62% of scheduled flights, according to flight tracking platform FlightAware. The pilots at SAS Link and SAS Connect are not on strike.