There will be no pilot strike tonight. SAS and the pilot union are continuing negotiations on a new agreement, says SAS's Swedish press manager Karin Nyman.
The new deadline will instead be in 72 hours.
After weeks of intense negotiations over a new agreement between SAS management and the pilots, the parties have now agreed to continue. The SAS pilots would have gone on strike at midnight if the parties had not reached an agreement.
But now a new deadline has been set in three days.
”"SAS and the Norwegian Pilots' Association have agreed to continue negotiations for three days. It has been intensive work to find a solution," says Norwegian national mediator Mats Wilhelm Ruland.
Karin Nyman, press manager at SAS, says they are happy about the new hours.
”"Above all, it ensures that our customers can travel as they need to in the next few days," she tells TT.
Martin Lindgren, chairman of the Swedish SAS section at the Swedish Pilots Association, says after the negotiations that he cannot comment on the content of the mediation, but says that it is worth continuing to negotiate.
”We have to try for the sake of our members, for the sake of SAS, and for the sake of all our passengers,” he says.
”"We have been here for two weeks and have today been asked by the mediators to continue for another 72 hours, and we have accepted that. It is now necessary for both of us to go back to the negotiating table and really try to reach an agreement. We hope that we will succeed."”
Karin Nyman is hopeful.
”"We can only state that we have had constructive conversations in recent days in the negotiations and obviously the mediators then make the assessment that there is a possibility of reaching an agreement," she says.
On Monday, SAS told TT that a strike could affect around half of SAS flights.
According to the airline, a possible strike would affect fewer passengers than the Swedish Pilots' Association previously estimated, i.e. 250 departures and 45,000 passengers per day. SAS estimates that around 200 to 250 departures and between 20,000 and 30,000 passengers per day would be affected.
