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SAS pilots on strike in April 2019

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SAS pilots on strike in April 2019

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Old May 2, 2019, 1:45 am
  #316  
 
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Originally Posted by East_and_West
The only issue was the overly long waiting times to reach them on the the phone, at least on their Swedish number. It is reasonable to expect much longer waiting times than usual, but 3+2+2 hours on Friday, and 4+2.5 hours on Monday was way over what would be acceptable, even considering the situation. To add to that there was no info on the expected waiting time/position in the queue. Hopefully this will improve since as I read somewhere in the press they were training additional personnel to deal with this. Or even better, this absurd situation will be over soon enough...
Adding lines to the phone system is the easy part. The hard part is finding trained staff. They need to be trained in searching for flights in the booking system, trained in interpretation the rebooking rules which by the way is becoming more and more complex every year with EU and others forcing the airlines to open their systems up to other resellers. Add to that the increase of the workload. It's probably a factor 1000 of disruptions compared to a normal workday, and all the cancellations comes at one time where they normally comes spread over the day.

I'm surprised they can keep the phone queues below 5 hours waiting time. Specially because some of the staff has been working over time for 5 days in a row now.
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Old May 2, 2019, 2:13 am
  #317  
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The CRJ and pilot crewing problems of the past years that caused massive disruptions caused SAS to invest in a better backoffice and as a result they have better tools this time. The Amadeus ATC is probably helping tremendously because all the rebooking rules are already built in. That way you can use more generic call center staff.
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Old May 2, 2019, 2:37 am
  #318  
 
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
The CRJ and pilot crewing problems of the past years that caused massive disruptions caused SAS to invest in a better backoffice and as a result they have better tools this time. The Amadeus ATC is probably helping tremendously because all the rebooking rules are already built in. That way you can use more generic call center staff.
SAS is doing an unbelievable good job with the rebooking IMHO. Many airlines could learn a lot here.

Regarding the Amadeus ATC tool. I'm working with IT system design daily. No matter how good and intuitive your IT tool is. Those companies who invest in proper training of the staff before they are let loos in the system has a far lower fault rate than those who don't. And with proper training I don't mean a 1 hour video. You need to do class training where the teacher can see the trainees and follow their progress. It can be done virtually, but the physical classes still show a lot better result.
Beside that. The company I work for has a booking tool we are supposed to use when booking flights hotels etc. It's supposed to hold all the policies and rules and they are improving the systems more or less every month. We have had it for about 5 years now, but I can still find ways to book flights and hotels the system wont allow the average user to book. And they are all within the official travel policy.
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Old May 2, 2019, 2:52 am
  #319  
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Well earlier you had to get individual waivers entered in the PNR and the ticketing had to be cross checked by the ticketing department. Now the agent can do everything themselves.
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Old May 2, 2019, 3:19 am
  #320  
 
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
Well earlier you had to get individual waivers entered in the PNR and the ticketing had to be cross checked by the ticketing department. Now the agent can do everything themselves.
I'm not saying the tools doesn't help. They do, but not to an extend where you can just ask people to watch a 1 hour video and then man the phones.
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Old May 2, 2019, 4:37 am
  #321  
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But they can use pretty much any call center agent who has Amadeus experience. Of which there are many.
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Old May 2, 2019, 5:12 am
  #322  
 
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
But they can use pretty much any call center agent who has Amadeus experience. Of which there are many.
They also need to be trained in other SK systems and specially the SK call center system. You can't just throw people at the call center if you want to provide a professional service. The company I work for has learned that the hard way.
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Old May 2, 2019, 6:42 am
  #323  
 
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Dagens Næringsliv reports that the negotiations between SAS and the union representing pilots in Norway may be nearing an agreement. The head of the Norwegian union said he is optimistic that a solution may be reached so that flights continue again soon. Representatives of the Danish and Swedish unions are also present. The Swedish intermediator says that the goal is to reach an agreement for the whole company, but he cannot yet judge how this is going as negotiations are held behind closed doors.

https://www.dn.no/luftfart/forbundsl...-na/2-1-596471
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Old May 2, 2019, 6:50 am
  #324  
 
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Originally Posted by East_and_West
Dagens Næringsliv reports that the negotiations between SAS and the union representing pilots in Norway may be nearing an agreement. The head of the Norwegian union said he is optimistic that a solution may be reached so that flights continue again soon. Representatives of the Danish and Swedish unions are also present. The Swedish intermediator says that the goal is to reach an agreement for the whole company, but he cannot yet judge how this is going as negotiations are held behind closed doors.

https://www.dn.no/luftfart/forbundsl...-na/2-1-596471
The same has been reported in the Danish news since early morning, and since SAS hasn't canceled any flights for tomorrow yet it might be true they are close to signing an agreement. Time will tell.
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Old May 2, 2019, 1:39 pm
  #325  
 
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Seems it is over soon: Pressconference at 21:38: Parterna kan vara överens ^
Tango Alpha likes this.
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Old May 2, 2019, 1:47 pm
  #326  
 
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Originally Posted by fassy
Seems it is over soon: Pressconference at 21:38: Parterna kan vara överens ^
I think and hope, you are right.

What (else) could be announced: a) We declare SAS bankrupt. b) We have negotiated a compromise with the pilots.
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Old May 2, 2019, 1:59 pm
  #327  
 
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Originally Posted by fassy
Seems it is over soon: Pressconference at 21:38: Parterna kan vara överens ^
It was meant to start at 20.30 at SK's headquarters at Frösundavik outside Stockholm, but shortly before 22, SK President Rickard Gustafson hadn't shown up yet. https://www.dn.se/ekonomi/sas-vd-har...pilotstrejken/
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Old May 2, 2019, 2:57 pm
  #328  
 
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It's a little strange. The longhaul I checked for tomorrow incl. those with late takeoff, has already been canceled, but the few shorthaul I checked hasn't been canceled yet.
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Old May 2, 2019, 3:09 pm
  #329  
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SAS reaches agreements with pilots’ unions and the pilot strike in Denmark, Norway and Sweden has ended
May 2, 2019 23:05

Negotiations between SAS and SPF (Svensk Pilotförening), NSF/NF (Norsk Flygerforbund*), SNF (SAS Norge Pilotforening*) and DPF (Dansk Pilotforening*) are now concluded. The parties have agreed on new collective bargaining agreements and all flights in Denmark, Norway and Sweden will be resumed as soon as possible.

Following the pilot strike, that started on Friday April 26th, the parties in all countries have now reached three-year agreements and the strike has been called off. The pilots will resume their work and traffic is expected to normalize over the next few days.

– It is with relief I now conclude that our customers soon will be flying again and that we will be able to pursue our commitment to travelers to, from and within Scandinavia, says Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO of SAS.

The agreements between SAS and the pilots’ unions concern predictability of scheduling, job security and salaries. In addition, the previously canceled agreements concerning collaboration and career paths have been reintroduced.

– The three-year agreements provide stability for the future and the terms of the Swedish agreement are on par with the industrial benchmark for the Swedish labor market (the so called “märket”). SAS operates in a highly competitive market and with these agreements we now need to intensify our work to build a long-term profitable and sustainable SAS, says Rickard Gustafson.
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Old May 2, 2019, 3:18 pm
  #330  
 
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Great development! I'll be able to fly this weekend
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