Pilots’ strike forces cancellation of hundreds of Finnair flights
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A strike by 800 pilots of the Finnish airline Finnair, which began at midnight, has led to the cancellation of over 200 flights on Monday, and is affecting the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers so far.
The pilots rejected a mediation proposal by National Conciliator Esa Lonka.
Negotiations between Finnair and the Finnish Air Line Pilots Association (SLL) are expected to resume sometime this week. The dispute focuses on plans by Finnair to outsource some of its services - primarily the use of outside labour on its flight decks.
SLL President Kristian Rantala notes that the union has agreed to cost-cutting measures, including cuts in pay, a higher retirement age, and reduced benefits, but it is drawing the line at letting outside pilots onto its flight decks.
Finnair estimates that its losses stemming from the strike will be between EUR 2.5 and 5 million a day.
The strike has grounded practically all of Finnair’s scheduled flights and forced a number of cancellations already on Sunday. Sunday’s cancellations affected about 5,500 passengers.
Two scheduled flights to Bangkok are being flown on Monday, with management personnel substituting on the flight deck.
Finnair also hopes that as many of its leisure flights to holiday destinations as possible could be handled, mainly on planes of Air Finland, Air Europa, and Thomas Cook Airlines.
On Sunday, between 200 and 300 Finnair employees worked to book new flight connections for ticketed passengers.
Finnair has set up desks for rescheduling and rerouting at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to help passengers get alternate connections to their destinations.
“The desks, and the check-in-desks are for passengers that Finnair has not reached in advance”, says Finnair spokesperson Maria Mroue.
If a telephone number was given to Finnair in connection with the ticket booking, the airline will either call the passenger or send a text message about changes.
To ease the pressure caused by the strike, Finncomm Airlines plans to open new domestic routes from Helsinki to Oulu, Rovaniemi, Kittilä and Kajaani, as well as to two foreign destinations, Stockholm and Vilnius.
The airline is also increasing its services to Vaasa and Kuopio. Finncomm will honour Finnair tickets, if there is room on the plane.
Blue 1, a Finnish airline owned by Scandinavian Airlines SAS, is flying a few extra flights between Helsinki and Kuopio, and is looking into the possibility of using larger-sized aircraft on some of its routes.
British Airways also plans to use larger planes with more seating capacity on its routes between London and Helsinki.
The rail operator VR is increasing rolling stock on some of its routes to cope with an anticipated increase in passengers.
The pilots rejected a mediation proposal by National Conciliator Esa Lonka.
Negotiations between Finnair and the Finnish Air Line Pilots Association (SLL) are expected to resume sometime this week. The dispute focuses on plans by Finnair to outsource some of its services - primarily the use of outside labour on its flight decks.
SLL President Kristian Rantala notes that the union has agreed to cost-cutting measures, including cuts in pay, a higher retirement age, and reduced benefits, but it is drawing the line at letting outside pilots onto its flight decks.
Finnair estimates that its losses stemming from the strike will be between EUR 2.5 and 5 million a day.
The strike has grounded practically all of Finnair’s scheduled flights and forced a number of cancellations already on Sunday. Sunday’s cancellations affected about 5,500 passengers.
Two scheduled flights to Bangkok are being flown on Monday, with management personnel substituting on the flight deck.
Finnair also hopes that as many of its leisure flights to holiday destinations as possible could be handled, mainly on planes of Air Finland, Air Europa, and Thomas Cook Airlines.
On Sunday, between 200 and 300 Finnair employees worked to book new flight connections for ticketed passengers.
Finnair has set up desks for rescheduling and rerouting at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to help passengers get alternate connections to their destinations.
“The desks, and the check-in-desks are for passengers that Finnair has not reached in advance”, says Finnair spokesperson Maria Mroue.
If a telephone number was given to Finnair in connection with the ticket booking, the airline will either call the passenger or send a text message about changes.
To ease the pressure caused by the strike, Finncomm Airlines plans to open new domestic routes from Helsinki to Oulu, Rovaniemi, Kittilä and Kajaani, as well as to two foreign destinations, Stockholm and Vilnius.
The airline is also increasing its services to Vaasa and Kuopio. Finncomm will honour Finnair tickets, if there is room on the plane.
Blue 1, a Finnish airline owned by Scandinavian Airlines SAS, is flying a few extra flights between Helsinki and Kuopio, and is looking into the possibility of using larger-sized aircraft on some of its routes.
British Airways also plans to use larger planes with more seating capacity on its routes between London and Helsinki.
The rail operator VR is increasing rolling stock on some of its routes to cope with an anticipated increase in passengers.
Helsingin Sanomat