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Salaries are high, but not on par with their colleagues around Europe. SAS pilots are not happy with their conditions and are threatening to strike.

A global shortage of pilots means that the professional group has a golden card in negotiations, according to aviation expert Jan Ohlsson.

Negotiations between SAS and pilots in Denmark, Norway and Sweden have reached a dead end. Mediators have been appointed to assist in the conflict over new collective agreements.

Too much weekend work, unpredictable working hours and salaries that have fallen behind are dampening the spirits of the pilots.

The time when piloting was seen as a glamorous profession with generous conditions and light work schedules may be over. The question is, can the conditions be considered bad?

”"Certainly they have stood back somewhat over the years to get the company back on its feet when it was about to go bankrupt. But standing back does not mean that you have bad conditions," says Jan Ohlsson.

According to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the average salary for Swedish SAS pilots is 93,000 SEK per month including supplements and allowances, a figure that the pilots themselves do not recognize.

There is no doubt that piloting is still a high-paying profession, even at SAS, according to Jan Ohlsson.

”"At all major airlines, from Ryanair to Norwegian to SAS, piloting is still a high-paying profession in every way," he says.

However, the industry has changed in various ways, which of course also affects the pilots' working situation. Increased commercial travel means higher pressure on weekend trips and travel during holiday periods. Changing travel patterns also mean rapid changes in planning for companies. This of course affects the pilots' work schedules, according to Jan Ohlsson.

”"It is an important source of income for SAS to fly holidaymakers over the weekend. In the past, the aircraft fleet often stood still. Now it mostly rolls during that time," says Jan Ohlsson.

More weekend work could also be a consequence of a general pilot shortage.

The pilot shortage is global. The UN's aviation organization ICAO estimated last year that 620,000 pilots are needed by 2036 and that 80 percent of them must be trained by then.

Jan Ohlsson believes that this gives the pilots an advantage in the negotiations.

”"Pilots have a kind of global job security. They get a job whenever they want, as long as they are trained on the right type of aircraft. SAS has common aircraft types such as Boeing and Airbus, and there is a shortage of pilots and retirements there," says Jan Ohlsson.

But the companies may have difficulty meeting the demands. Even though profitability has improved at SAS, price pressure throughout the industry remains high.

”"Costs are increasing but revenues are not. This is not unique to SAS," says Jan Ohlsson.

SAS pilots also believe they have fallen behind in terms of pay, compared to other Scandinavian and European colleagues, according to Wilhelm Tersmeden, chairman of the SAS section at the Swedish Pilots Association.

”"We can prove that we have fallen behind in both terms of service and salary. We have stood up and helped the company, and now that SAS is doing well, we want to talk about the differences that have caused us to fall behind," he says.

He does not want to provide any figures for the pilots' salaries, citing that it is complex and is due to the fact that careers look different for different pilots, and believes that it gives the wrong focus to the negotiations.

Source: TT