whlinder

Is SAS continuing to sell tickets or have those been shut down as well?

warakorn

The leasing rates for the parked planes still have to paid.

James91

Which is the responsible step. Who makes a ridiculous suggestion about upgrading internet on planes when the survival of the company is at risk?! SAS needs to do whatever costs the very least, and we should all hope for the very best.

highupinthesky

This is ......... At the point in time where the Danish government closed the border, over 80% of the travel were already gone. The impact is therefore max 10% of a normal day.

highupinthesky

All true experts agree that border closing is hurting more than it's solving. If you look at the roughly 900 known cases of corona in DK, you will see that over 90% of the cases can be traced back to Danish citizens returning from ski trips to Austria or Italy. Those cases will not be blocked with the current border closings. The real problem is the authorities were too focused on known hot spots. It took the DK authorities 4 days before they tested the first person returning from Austria or Italy. This despite several people returning complained about Corona symptoms and could document they had been in close contact with people who have been tested positive for the virus. Some even shared a whistle with people who later was tested positive for the corona virus, but the DK authorities still rejected testing for 4 days.

highupinthesky

I think so, but who want to buy a ticket at this point in time? I wouldn't even buy a ticket for a summer vacation right now.

Edit: Forgot to mention. SK will continue operating domestic flight and other critical flights on a reduced schedule, so ticket sales will continue for flights which are not canceled. As far as I understand they are only canceling flights till the end of the current border closings, but further cancellations and changes will most like come. Also. The way they do the reduction, means they can ramp up to full program in a day or two.

highupinthesky

Yes, but some of the flights SK did last week couldn't even pay the fuel or staff needed for performing the flight.

highupinthesky

The survival of the company is not at risk at the moment. They are putting the planes on the ground because most of the flights currently will not be able to cover the costs for fuel and staff, not because they are at risk of folding. Doing planned upgrades and maintenance at this point in time will save money on the long run. And yes. I am the one who suggested this.

highupinthesky

It looks like SK continues to fly the TATL flights and flights to/from Japan according to the already reduced schedule. On top of that they also fly a reduced schedule on the domestic flights in DK, NO and SE.

GUWonder

Indeed.

When the big bird costs say $1 million/month to just have, it may not make sense to operate the plane for flights where the (more) variable costs of fuel and labor are higher than revenue from the flights with the plane. Even as the cost of the plane is to be considered a sunk cost in at least the short term.

FlyingMoose

SAS could have easily justified actual layoffs instead of this poor compromise. I would have expected them to fire more of the staff on legacy golden contracts, cut pay and take a critical look at who was part of the last strike. This is the time for them to act and improve things for the longterm on an accelerated plan of action.

GUWonder

SAS is in line for big assistance from governments. Terminating large number of employees could put at risk some of the governmental assistance. And SAS may not want to take the risk of having to deal with employee termination costs in the same year or years as it may need to ramp up service again. Hiring and training programs aren’t without their own costs and risks too.

FlyingMoose

These opportunities are a lot less common than the opposite of having their staff turn against them in strikes. Regardless of government support, this is easily defensible, they are meant to mitigate not avoid all sacrifices at all cost. Neighboring airlines have already taken that step.

Rehiring is always an option and the market is likely to flood with Norwegian (the airline, not the country) staff looking for jobs in the near future.

highupinthesky

I would think you by now knew that laying off people in the Nordic's aren't that easy. Most of the SK employees have minimum 3 months notice where SK would still have to pay them full salary whether they are released or not. Beside that SK want to have the employees available when the panic is over, which everyone hopes will happen withing a month or two, max 3.

highupinthesky

I'm pretty sure the Norwegian government will keep DY flying, but even if they went under, they would still require a decent amount of training in SK procedures before they can be let lose on the PAX's.