Finnair Plus - AY pilots threaten with a strike on 16 Nov 2009

AY pilots have announced not to work overtime from 01 Nov 2009 on. Furthermore, they have given a strike warning involving the entire flight operations beginning in the morning of 16 Nov 2009 :mad:. This may become a tough battle!

And I am quite certain that the flying public will not symphatise with the pilots :td:!

An old joke comes to mind.

"Six month ago our company was on the brink of disaster. Since then we have taken a long step forward"

Seriously - is it better to have a not-so-perfect contract or to be an out-of-job-pilot?

AY pilots have announced not to work overtime from 01 Nov 2009 on.

Just a small clarification to this: it is actually overtime for flights originating in HEL - thus no plane should be let at an outstation due to the flight deck crew running out of regular working hours.

The weird thing about this contract proposal and the strike is that the pilots have already proposed an universal 5% wage cut, so it's not about getting more money, it's about the outsourcing policies etc.

Just a small clarification to this: it is actually overtime for flights originating in HEL - thus no plane should be let at an outstation due to the flight deck crew running out of regular working hours.

The weird thing about this contract proposal and the strike is that the pilots have already proposed an universal 5% wage cut, so it's not about getting more money, it's about the outsourcing policies etc.

Isn't it lovely when employees try to decide company policiy? :td:

Thanks for the info and please keep us updated. I am scheduled to fly from HEL to NGO on 11/16.

Certainly! I had a mere KUO-HEL-LHR and back that time but I swapped to SK (God help!) KUO-HEL-ARL-LHR and back. The price in D (business all the way) was a nice surprise €1300 compared to AY in C €1600. Lots of SK points as well.

The shortcoming is I will be missing first two of my scheduled meetings. Which is nothing thinking of the nostalgia onboard the MD-80´s and surströmming...

Thanks. The fare (D class) is actually the best I've seen in the market and was booked through our travel agent, so I will probably keep it as is and hope to be reaccomidated if the strike does happen.

Not being too familiar with Finnair labor politics and Finnish labor law in general, do strikes usually happen when they are scheduled, or is there likely to be a postponment/cancellation prior to the actual strike?

Legal strikes start when they were announced to be started. The national conciliator can in some cases postpone induction of the strike by 2 weeks. I presume, this option could well be used here, since our dear civil servants and politicians just could not survive without sitting on a plane at least five times a week ;) !

Update:

Public opinion polls: 80% think that pilots are overpaid/oversupplied/overpampered.

Finnair blog, AY PR-manager: Pilots do not live this day with their expectations.

Finnish pilot union: Ok. Let go 20% of the wages... BUT "If we grant our employer an unlimited possibility to fly their planes using outsourced staff, there will be a concrete risk of that Finnair pilots will soon have no work at all. We cannot accept that." :D:D:D

I think the PR-manager summarises it nicely. And I almost hope that the strike will be a long one, having read the clever comment from the pilot union spokesman.

I too hope that the strike will be a long one..it's time to bring down this fortress for the 70/80's..

All short term upcoming OW travels post Nov16th with BA and AA but there seems to be some union stuff going on at BA as well..most likely during the holiday season. Anyway this is the worst possible PR for AY as people will book alternative carriers from mid Nov onwards.

It's ridicilous. This fight in the middle of huge economical crisis is just utterly wrong.

If 97 employees out of Finnair's 100 employees with best salary are pilots, they really should take a look in the mirror and start negiotating a more realistic collective agreement.

The CEO has already resigned himself from the company and it's only getting worse.

Anyway this is the worst possible PR for AY as people will book alternative carriers from mid Nov onwards.

Too right. My only concern is a return leg HAM-HEL on 20/Nov... after that no OW flights this year (I guess)

Lots of aggravated domestic passengers so far. It appears that especially KUO flights are affected for some reason.

I do sincerely hope that the AY pilots would suffer moneywise as much as possible from this act. And that their lazy days would be over (500 hours of flying per year currently compared to 800 hours of flying per year in many other, profitable companies such as EK or FR) for good!

We'll see today where it's all going.

If 97 employees out of Finnair's 100 employees with best salary are pilots, they really should take a look in the mirror and start negiotating a more realistic collective agreement.

I thought that the pilots were prepared to take a pay cut, it is just that they don't want to be replaced by cheaper employees from other companies. I don't think any of us here would, if we were in the same situation.

On the other hand, I think that it is much better to give the best salary to the employees that are directly responsible for my safety (=pilots) instead of paying more to someone shuffling papers in an office.

A Finnair pilot actually posted some interesting information some time ago in another Finnish discussion board. He compared the situation to that with Qantas - apparently the QF pilots had the same kind of clauses in their contract about outsourcing work and planes. Qantas the company started arguing that due to LCC competition (must be Virgin Blue) they need to cut their costs by forming a LCC division, of course together with lower cost pilots and cabin crew. To get them started faster, they need to provide this division with planes as well - which required the pilot union's permission, just like with the Finnair and FC Embraer case. This was granted, and the LCC division became JetStar. Initially it was just supposed to fly domestic routes and act as a feeder to QF's international network.

The door having been opened, pretty soon JetStar became the fastest growing part of the company, and it is now operating internationally (and also flying domestic flights in NZ that replaced the QF services there) and replacing some of QF's Asian routes - all with cheaper pilots than mainline.

That is called market economy, guided by the laws of demand and supply ;)

Lots of aggravated domestic passengers so far. It appears that especially KUO flights are affected for some reason.


I'm confused... I thought the strike wasn't supposed to start until Nov. 16?

I'm confused... I thought the strike wasn't supposed to start until Nov. 16?

There is a pre-strike no-overtime action going on. Therefore some flights are already cancelled...

Flew HEL-RIX this afternoon. After we had boarded the plane and the doors were closed the captain announced that there had been some sort of "demonstration" (in Finnish) or "industrial action" (in English) by the baggage handlers so we need to wait for the baggage some 20 minutes. Surprisingly, we departed just five minutes later - and the reason was announced as part of the "We've started our descent..." message - a good number of bags were left behind in HEL (to keep the flight in time? to protect ex-RIX connections?). I presume they followed on one of the evening BT flights, as there are no AY flights after mine.

Looks like the pilots aren't the only ones having some disagreements...

PS. One of the few canceled flights on the board was the 17.something departure to KUO :)

They must have noticed my comments ;)

The dice has been cast early this morning. We will know the end result by 15:00 saturday GMT+2:00. The emplayer would be satisfied with the new treaty. The employees still hesitate - they would like to have a say so, when the outsourced pilots would be used.

So there is a proposal made now as I write this. The employer was satisfied, however the representative of the pilots appeared to be a bit hesitative indeed. Some conclusions can be drawn from this.

--> There is no agreement for the proposal that original pilots should have a say to the question of outsourcing workforce.

Hence, the question remains: does the 750 Finnair pilots have the balls to cease pretty much all Finnair flights?

Just my 5 cents... I hope I'm wrong.

I hope that Finnair will not bend here, to me it's a simple question.. who runs the company, the owners/management or the pilots. If it means there will be a long strike then there is a long strike which all will suffer from in the short term but in the longer run it'll make AY more competetive company, that's for sure. They cannot survive with current way of doing things anyway..

They have mocked it :mad:. The strike will take place. No postponement. All AY traffic from HEL will cease 12 PM tomorrow.

The pilot union :td: spokesman was boasting that Finnair planes will be flown by Finnair pilots only also in the future. That will end the story of Finnair shortly.

20 000 passengers including holiday makers are affected in the first day of strike alone. Cancellations begin taking place already Sun 15. Nov.

Winners of the strike: LH, BA and SK. Good news for them!

I will skål for the memory of Finnair sitting on 2D of SAS MD-80 somewhere over Åland enroute to LHR on monday morning :o

And I do hope that the AY pilots will be hit hard. Their action has been described as "irresponsible" both by their employer and the national conciliator. 8000 jobs, not just those of the pilot´s are on stake...

I hope that Finnair will not bend here, to me it's a simple question.. who runs the company, the owners/management or the pilots.

I am probably in the minority here... but I believe that the pilots are more capable of running the company than the current beancounters.

Also, taking into account what has been posted in this thread about Qantas and JetStar, I can see why the pilots can't accept a similar scam of an agreement.

I was in a meeting in Copenhagen on Friday when about two hours before ending the Finns in the room indicated they had to leave early as their 7:15 flight to HEL was cancelled and they had to race to the airport to catch the last available Finnair flight.

The SK flight to HEL I was on (leaving at 8 p.m.) was jammed to the overhead bins, I'm guessing due to a few folks having been rebooked.

Good thing the one way price (as discussed in another thread) was much cheaper on SK than on AY or I may have been in the re-booking boat too.

Of note was that the welcoming message upon arrival in HEL on SK was in Swedish and not Finnish. (I guess using one of the official languages is fine with them)

As far as the meeting ending without the Finns present, we took a bunch of decisions and left all of the hard work for the missing participants to carry out... :p That's what they get for not being there.. :D:D

I am probably in the minority here... but I believe that the pilots are more capable of running the company than the current beancounters.

Also, taking into account what has been posted in this thread about Qantas and JetStar, I can see why the pilots can't accept a similar scam of an agreement.

You probably are in the minority. Everyone,in every company, thinks that the boss is wrong when they disagree with him/her . The CEO is paid to see the whole picture and not just the view through the windscreen. How can a business be run from 30000 ft? I think that your supposition is based upon sand. Get real

I find the concept of striking in a recessive environment just insane. BA, Iberia, Royal Mail, Finnair...... they all must be smoking crack. You drive the business into the ground (the one thats meant to pay you at the end of the day) and you get no public support. Its funny that strikes are proven to only really be effective if you affect the public (the wider consumer) but in doing so you of course alienate them. All those leisure travellers who cannot claim money back/lose valuable holiday time they have saved up (and worked) for. Look at the Royal Mail case where they put out 30,000 temp job offers and got 90,000 applicants! No one is indispensible, people shouldn't be so arrogant. You need to work to get paid (and make terms) and if you dont want to do it on current market terms, then don't, there are others happy to take your position. Grrr. Need a rant. Also now have rebooked all my next week AY flights to other airlines at triple the cost. Good luck.... Might be time to move more permanently to Star Alliance.

The pilot union :td: spokesman was boasting that Finnair planes will be flown by Finnair pilots only also in the future. That will end the story of Finnair shortly.


Always implying/wishing that there will be a Finnair whose planes they can fly...

NB I think the pilots are also strongly (maybe unknowingly) playing the "Finnair won't go bust, the state will save it" card, but in the EU you can't just go and save airlines. (except in Italy, but that has shown where it leads)

Finnair wants to start using other pilots - OK
Pilots go on strike - OK
What happens next?
Finnair sacks pilots and starts using other ones?
Other airlines take over the passengers?
When the economy picks up, pilots find other employers?
Finnair goes bankrupt and shareholders lose their investment?
Finns lose their convenient schedules?
Other Finnair employees lose their jobs?

My parents are meant to fly back to Helsinki from Geneva this coming Saturday the 21st... If Finnair goes on strike, what are their options?

Will they be put on a SAS or KLM flight, or will they go with BA? They're flying in Business.

I estimate that major changes are to occur very soon in Finnair. Finnish taxpayers can not be expected to support the boheme life style of Finnair pilots. The general public is so much against it - after reading a few discussion threads.

And the argumentation by the pilot union is best defined childish. They either begin flying 800 to 900 hours per year, postpone their retirement, and cut their wages for the time being - or find another job.

FinnComm and Blue1 can supply the domestic needs. Many other companies rest of the needs. As for the European traffic, getting there and back home the same day (around or a couple of hours after the midnight) I do not regard as a strong marketing argument. The days of reckless business travel may be over. Electronic ways of communication can replace much of those short trips.

The Finnair Asian (and the sole North American) connections could be transferred to Finnish Air Plc. - which perhaps could hire some the most experienced Finnair pilots but with new terms. Much of the current feeder traffic to Europe could much be taken care by FinnComm as well (flying the ATRs and Embraers) and the most profitable routes such as BRU, LHR and CDG would be left for Finnish Air Plc (flying the A320 fleet).

My parents are meant to fly back to Helsinki from Geneva this coming Saturday the 21st... If Finnair goes on strike, what are their options?

Will they be put on a SAS or KLM flight, or will they go with BA? They're flying in Business.

No idea, I have HAM-HEL on Sat, no idea how I'll do that. If AY is still on strike, I might just get a cheap oneway AB ticket and AY be damned.

AY CS director last night told that pax will be rerouted, so your parents probably will get back to HEL, though possibly not without some inconveniences (longer route, longre layover, etc)

AY phone lines are overcongested. No chance to get through. The web pages suggest of using Check My Trip.com and changes in routings would be shown there.

I would not trust to those promises. My monday morning KUO-HEL-LHR flights have been done nothing about and I expect also that nothing will happen. So I have filled in compensation claim using the AY NONSECURE :td: web form.

The worst thing for many passengers is that travel insurance will not cover losses to industrial action strike.

The worst thing for many passengers is that travel insurance will not cover losses to industrial action strike.

Most of the travel insurances do not cover this situation. If trip was booked before the strike was announced or before the strike started and traveller has for example Amex Gold/Platinum card then they have a travel insurance, which will be still valid. But sure, most of the standard insurances (from domestic traditional insurance companies) have already made announcements that they will not cover this.


Updates collected from newspapers:
- BA has announced to fly with bigger capacity airplanes to HEL to help the situation
- Blue1 has announced extra flights to at least KUO to help the situation and if possible with extra capacity
- Finncomm has announced that they will open new routes to cover striked AY routes (HEL-OUL/RVN/KTT/KAJ/ARN/VNO) and also to have extra flights at least to VAA/KUO
- National railways will add extra capacity

Has anybody received a call from Finnair?

I have two Finnair flights coming up: HEL-BRU on Monday afternoon and AMS-HEL Tuesday evening.

I've received no communication from Finnair or from our corporate travel agency and Checkmytrip shows no changes to routing. I haven't bothered to try to call anywhere.

At least I'm glad to see Amex travel insurance should refund my hotel charges if the trip gets cancelled, as they include industrial action in things they cover.

hermanni, since you are booked through travel agency, I would assume that you will get things going on during Monday when they are back in the office unless you want to call to their 24hr service line already now.

I remember seeing information on Finnair web site that if the passenger is booked through travel agency then the primary channel would be travel agency.

I guess Finnair is progressing slowly, today they have already quite many passengers facing cancelled flights as practically all of their long-hauls are cancelled (only exception being BKK), they are probably busy processing those now.

so TLL-HEL route will not be stopped as it's operated by Finncomm?

I received 1 hour ago cancellations of my 6:10 flight KUO-HEL-LHR on 16 Nov. No alternative was given, just plain no go.

FinnComm seems to pick up business opportunities quickly, as can be seen from their web pages regarding the domestic hops.

FinnComm apparently operates all its scheduled routes.

Has anybody received a call from Finnair?

I got an SMS now, basically just telling me my flight is cancelled and asking to check Finnair web site for more info.

My parents are due to fly CDG-HEL tomorrow (via uk) and they got told via the web to call the Finnish number (answers and sounds like someone hanging up straight away says father: probably makes some answer stats look good). Finnair web site gives list of other numbers, i.e. Finnair UK (hello: we don't work on Sundays says the answering service)...

After getting involved I see they are booked via Air France. Air France on a Sunday (gasp, I am praising AF now!) promptly answered their UK number, checked a few things, promised to call back within 15 minutes which they did and rerouted him.

Only bad thing is that they had to be proactive so a black mark to AF there. (the flight was sold as an AF number but it is op by AY).

I use Finncomm a lot internally and must say they do seem to be better than their AY counterparts for the basic stuff. Maybe Finnish labour unions are thinking they are in the 70s and aiming their weapons at feet now.

Hi Guys,

I am scheduled to travel AY, tomorrow (Monday), LHR>HEL>DEL - booked in C. Any ideas or thoughts, needless to say no one has contacted me. FYI, current BA Gold

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers

I´d contact the UK call center, see below. Those in FI are now just impossible to get through. Or if not in a hurry with my travel, just would walk to the Finnair ticketing desk at T3 to ask for an interesting rerouting. That should not be a problem between LHR and DEL. Shopping at DBX? Upper deck tranquility?

http://www.finnair.com/finnaircom/wps/portal/yhteystiedot/en_UK

Has anybody received a call from Finnair?

I have two Finnair flights coming up: HEL-BRU on Monday afternoon and AMS-HEL Tuesday evening.

I've received no communication from Finnair or from our corporate travel agency and Checkmytrip shows no changes to routing. I haven't bothered to try to call anywhere.

At least I'm glad to see Amex travel insurance should refund my hotel charges if the trip gets cancelled, as they include industrial action in things they cover.

Hermanni

pm the reloc, will have a look at it tomorrow morning.
work as handling agent for AY at Amsterdam.
sofar no flights cancelled at Tuesday (2pm today).
regards

dutch_122

Hi Guys,

I am scheduled to travel AY, tomorrow (Monday), LHR>HEL>DEL - booked in C. Any ideas or thoughts, needless to say no one has contacted me. FYI, current BA Gold

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers


Hi Chris

booked via agent or online.
if via agent they should have received instructions what to do.
If online i would not even consider contacting them, too busy.
If BA gold try to contact BA as Gold, see what they can do for you, hopefully.
it´s Oneworld.

dutch_122

p.s. if none above works sent me pm with reloc, will look at it tomorrow morning.

so TLL-HEL route will not be stopped as it's operated by Finncomm?

Yes, this is correct. Although since FC is taking over some of the affected routes they might be a bit short of staff and planes, which could mean some flights with low loads being canceled or consolidated into one. Just my speculation, though.

Yes, this is correct. Although since FC is taking over some of the affected routes they might be a bit short of staff and planes, which could mean some flights with low loads being canceled or consolidated into one. Just my speculation, though.

I think your speculation is correct; looks like at least today there has been some cancellations on TMP-HEL-TMP flights, the route is purely existing for feeding AY flights and now there is of course very low demand. They can easily use those planes and crews for some other routes.

This kind of action what FC is now taking is very wise, it gives them nice PR and also it helps the passengers. Plus it is also good business. Well done FC.

Hi Chris

booked via agent or online.
if via agent they should have received instructions what to do.
If online i would not even consider contacting them, too busy.
If BA gold try to contact BA as Gold, see what they can do for you, hopefully.
it´s Oneworld.

dutch_122

p.s. if none above works sent me pm with reloc, will look at it tomorrow morning.

Hi dutch_122

Thank you very much for your speedy response. I have not heard from anyone (yet), did check the flight on "checkmytrip.com), but no information is provided here either?

Will pm my booking number.

Situation is further complicated, as I am arriving from IAD tomorrow morning with BA - so not much I can do tonight.... (carry on only)

Thanks again

Cheers
Chris

Hi dutch_122

Thank you very much for your speedy response. I have not heard from anyone (yet), did check the flight on "checkmytrip.com), but no information is provided here either?

Will pm my booking number.

Situation is further complicated, as I am arriving from IAD tomorrow morning with BA - so not much I can do tonight.... (carry on only)

Thanks again

Cheers
Chris

Hi Chris

I may assume that the ticket to DEL is issued on BA stock.
If so ask BA to reroute invol due to pilot strike AY.
They should be aware of that, if so, hopefully they are able (and willing to rebook you invol), to rebook/reroute you.
If not, there a contact number in your res......:)


What time you arrive in LHR.
I start again at 7am Amsterdam time....
maybe it helps.

Edwin

www.finncomm.fi displays the changes to timetables and it appears that TLL flights are affected quite heavily...

Let's post the link to FC exception timetable as well: http://fc.fi/info/finnair_pilots_strike/exception_timetable.html

So they will cancel some of the routes to cover some of the new routes.

Decision has apparently come from AY: http://fc.fi/info/finnair_pilots_strike/traffic_changes.html (By marketing carrier decision flights operated by Finncomm Airline).

I would assume these lists will be updated frequently.

Flying LHR-HEL monday morning. All I got from AY today was an sms stating that the flight is canceled. I contacted the BA ticket office at JFK when leaving from there this morning (on a BA flight) and my reservation LHR-HEL was changed to BA metal by a very helpful agent.
The thing I find strange is that BA had NO idea that there is an AY pilot strike on Monday... none of the staff, nothing on the computers etc...

I am sorry to hear that AY pilots decided to go on strike.. It does not solve anything, except turing the public against them.

Does anyone know how long they will be on strike? It seems to be a two day strike?

Stein

I am sorry to hear that AY pilots decided to go on strike.. It does not solve anything, except turing the public against them.

Does anyone know how long they will be on strike? It seems to be a two day strike?

Stein

My understanding is that there is no dead-line for the strike. Yesterday the pilots union told that they are ready to sit and negotiate whenever, but they are on strike for now.

Finnair has reported that the losses are approximately 2,5 - 5 million euros a day. Moreover, Finnair has recorded heavy losses for this year already, so the situation is completely insane.

I Shall continue my monologue. The average yearly salary for a Finnair pilot is 120k €. If we compare this to FinnComm pilots, the same salary for them is less than half of this.

There are 750 pilots in Finnair, these pilots are paid 150 million € by Finnair every year. 750 * 120000 = 90 000 000€. I guess there are additional payments, since both of my statements are checked facts from reliable sources.

Anyways, this 150 million euros is one third of Finnairs yearly salary payments for all employees. Finnair has about 9500 employees. Do the math.

The pilots are ready to cut 5% of their wages. I wonder does this really change the costs enough. Not even close...

Finnair has reported that the losses are approximately 2,5 - 5 million euros a day. Moreover, Finnair has recorded heavy losses for this year already, so the situation is completely insane.

I agree but if you think it from AY's point of view, here are some points to consider:

1. they cannot afford to continue in to the future with the current way of things anyway
2. they are making losses as of now anyway, no matter if they fly or not
3. after 7 days of strike they can stop paying salaries to cabin crew, catering staff etc. so losses will be much lower per day if the strike goes on, also mandatory rerouting costs are the highest during the beginning of the strike
4. maybe this recession is still the best time to get the pilots to sign a more reasonable contract that will allow AY to continue to operate as an independent airline...the worst thing AY management could now do is to give the pilots the contract they want...after a week there will be very, very little sympathy for the pilots from their co-workers within the airline so pressure will start to build even more

There are 750 pilots in Finnair, these pilots are paid 150 million € by Finnair every year. 750 * 120000 = 90 000 000€.
...
Anyways, this 150 million euros is one third of Finnairs yearly salary payments for all employees. Finnair has about 9500 employees. Do the math.

The pilots are ready to cut 5% of their wages.
Great info. I was kind of siding with the pilots but having read the info of the mediator proposal I have now changed my mind.

Other employees have obviously agreed to a 15% pay cut. Since pilots are paid so much more, I think they should be prepared to cut their wages more: let's say by 20%.

Also the proposal of allowing other pilots to fly Finnair planes was severely restricted (max. 20% for domestic flights and negotiations if idle Finnair pilots available).

1. they cannot afford to continue in to the future with the current way of things anyway
2. they are making losses as of now anyway, no matter if they fly or not
3. after 7 days of strike they can stop paying salaries to cabin crew, catering staff etc. so losses will be much lower per day if the strike goes on, also mandatory rerouting costs are the highest during the beginning of the strike
4. maybe this recession is still the best time to get the pilots to sign a more reasonable contract that will allow AY to continue to operate as an independent airline...the worst thing AY management could now do is to give the pilots the contract they want...after a week there will be very, very little sympathy for the pilots from their co-workers within the airline so pressure will start to build even more

Agreed 100%. Some of your points I had in my mind, and originally I was pointing out that there will be heavy losses for this year anyway, with or without the strike.

Agreed 100%. Some of your points I had in my mind, and originally I was pointing out that there will be heavy losses for this year anyway, with or without the strike.

I have many Finnair staff friends. Some had paycuts, some had unpaid leave and they all work very hard.

Most flights (long haul) and non-charter have been canceled.
Dreadful timing for any passenger.

They say that if it lasts more than 72 hours it could go on for weeks or past Christmas. Don't forget all of this started back in March.
Losses are 3.7-5m euros a day. Who knows the exact number but regardless this will keep AY down for a while to come. What a shame for the hard working staff that didn't want the pilots to strike.

Finnair wants to start using other pilots - OK
Pilots go on strike - OK
What happens next?
Finnair sacks pilots and starts using other ones?
Other airlines take over the passengers?
When the economy picks up, pilots find other employers?
Finnair goes bankrupt and shareholders lose their investment?
Finns lose their convenient schedules?
Other Finnair employees lose their jobs?

Very well said and very true!

For those wondering about how long in advance you need to ask Finnair about re-routing. I asked this question today about my flights to NRT on Sunday. The answer was, come back on friday and we may know, the flights are not yet cancelled; so it looks like -48 hrs. The phone was answered very quickly in the UK at 9 am. Full marks for that.

The National Conciliator has given a second proposal for agreement. The answers of the "disputees" are expected by 18:00 Finnish time (GMT+2:00). So we will know soon. The rebel pilots may have learned something meanwhile reading the papers...

There´s another proposal by the mediator on the table. They´re waiting for responses by 18.00 Finnish time, 17.00 CET. Let´s hope for the best.

For those wondering about how long in advance you need to ask Finnair about re-routing. I asked this question today about my flights to NRT on Sunday. The answer was, come back on friday and we may know, the flights are not yet cancelled; so it looks like -48 hrs. The phone was answered very quickly in the UK at 9 am. Full marks for that.


cracklehillhogg,

correct it´s 48hrs and they will update all staff at 5pm every day.
for so far also the flights out Amsterdam for the 18th are cancelled.


dutch_122

Hi dutch_122

Thank you very much for your speedy response. I have not heard from anyone (yet), did check the flight on "checkmytrip.com), but no information is provided here either?

Will pm my booking number.

Situation is further complicated, as I am arriving from IAD tomorrow morning with BA - so not much I can do tonight.... (carry on only)

Thanks again

Cheers
Chris

Chris flyalot


glad you arrived in Dehli on BA143.