SAS's plans to place future aircraft purchases in an independent unit have the pilot union talking about a "declaration of war" against the airline's employees, writes Dagens Næringsliv.
During the conference call that followed this morning's interim report from SAS, CEO Rickard Gustafson said that the company is looking at ordering a completely new, slightly smaller aircraft type to operate on routes in Europe where the Airbus A320 model with 180 passenger seats is too large. The need arises because SAS has said that it will create a unified fleet and get rid of smaller Boeing 737 planes in the coming years.
According to what emerged during the conference call, SAS's desire is that the new aircraft be classified under an "independent unit." However, no details have been communicated regarding whether this involves creating an additional subsidiary and whether, in such a case, it will be wholly owned by SAS.
”"Details about who will man the fleet, which aircraft we fly and so on, are too early to say anything about," is Rickard Gustafson's message today.
But the pilot union representative sees the SAS boss's plans as a declaration of war in the making. Christian Laulund of SAS Pilot Group, which is an umbrella organization for pilot unions in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, tells the newspaper that he fears that SAS is looking to hire personnel and/or planes from abroad.
”"If that's the path that SAS wants to take, it's a declaration of war against SAS pilots," Christian Laulund tells the newspaper, adding that the unions will oppose any kind of solution where SAS pilots are replaced by outside personnel.
Rickard Gustafson is trying to pour oil on the waves and tells the newspaper that the ambition is to continue to develop the business with aircraft and crews in Scandinavia in order to be able to develop the core business of SAS. He also emphasizes that SAS has owned several subsidiaries for several years, such as Finnish Blue 1 and Danish Cimber.
”"I don't see any drama in this, honestly. We have to take advantage of the unified fleet that we will finally get in SAS."”
Source: di.se
