The pilots' union is criticizing the way the cutbacks at the airline Bra have been implemented. Last spring, the pilots were given notice of layoffs, but now the airline will continue to fly the same routes with hired personnel.
– What they are doing is pure contract dumping on the market. The company intends to hire equivalent production with jet traffic from another country. We feel a bit left out in the group then, says Lars Petersson at the Swedish Pilots Association and employed at Bra until March next year.
This spring, I took The airline BRA decided to close down the part of the group that flies jet planes, the old Malmö Aviation. 361 people were given notice of dismissal, of which 116 were pilots. The reason given was a shortage of work when the old aircraft were to be phased out.
However, it is now clear that BRA will be renting modern jets from a German company, with crew, and this has made the laid-off pilots furious.
– We claim that there is no labor shortage within the Braathens Group, says Lars Petersson.
How do you think the Employment Protection Act works?
– Yes, we can probably rename it from the Employment Protection Act to something else because it is very eroded. And don't go thinking that you have protection because it doesn't exist in Sweden, he says.
Jim Hofverberg, communications manager at Bra, believes that there has been a shortage of work due to the age of the plan:
– The jets we have today need to be replaced soon due to their age and that is what has caused a labor shortage, he says.
According to Bra, there are a number of costs associated with new aircraft and by leasing instead, the company can be more flexible when domestic flights decrease.
“It's simply a way to reduce costs. It's about not having too much capacity,” says Jim Hofverberg.
Can you understand that the pilots who have been laid off find it a bit strange that you are hiring equivalent labor?
– Of course we understand that, but it is these conditions that have arisen due to these circumstances that we as an individual airline have no control over that have driven this forward.
Source: sverigesradio.se
