skyplane

Starting March 16, SAS will put most of its operation on hold.

90% of the workforce will be lay off.

supersympa

just saw it....big blow

https://www.flysas.com/en/traffic-information/message/

highupinthesky

Hopefully they will keep the mechanics working so they can get all the birds updated with internet and other outstanding maintenance.

AStarr

Ouch... I really hope they don't go fully out. Is it possible they'll somehow manage to not cease to exist?

citiflyerUK

I imagine they will be trying to preserve as much cash as possible not spending it on upgrades that are not essential.

highupinthesky

Critical infrastructure flights and flights to bring Nordic citizens back home will continue bases on requirement. There are simply no pax for the rest.

supersympa

the company is owned by the danish, norwegian and swedish govt.
I doubt they will let it go. but that is my 2 cents.

AStarr

This is what I'm thinking - but I thought that Norway sold their part?

I'm thinking that they have a vested interest in trying to keep the airline in business to some end no matter what even if operations are suspended.

highupinthesky

This is a temporary situation and in the long run, they will save money by doing the upgrades now when the birds is on the ground anyway and normal maintenance is reduced.
For the installation I saw an article once, where it was stated that it take 7 days with work round the clock to install the internet in 1 bird. If they do it now, they can do it in normal day time and spread it over 3-4 weeks and probably work on multiple birds in parallel.

Also the birds are build to fly. If you don't get them in the air at least once a week, you need to do additional checks/maintenance before you fly with pax the next time. If a bird is expected to be on the ground for a month or more, you need to prepare it for long storage, otherwise it can take days to get it back in the air.

highupinthesky

No. Norway sold their shares some years ago.

Ownership or not. SAS is listed as critical infrastructure in both SE and DK. Both countries will go a long way to keep SK flying and I actually think it's the same for NO. SK recently won the right to serve some of the remote airports from DY. This means SK operation on those routes are subsidized by the NO government.

Passmethesickbag

If the Danish government gave a hoot, they would not have halved the customer base for flights out of CPH by cutting of Swedish passengers.

miles_collector

I don't think we will see major airlines going bankrupt yet. That would have tremendous implications in each country as there are thousands of employees. In my opinion, each government will try to help as much as possible so I don't see SAS, AF/KL, LH/LX,LO, BA going down (but times will be hard for sure). Nonetheless, those that were already crumbling may very well be axed.

Also, don't expect this to como around in a couple of weeks. If we're lucky, we'll start to improve in late april. Europe was just too slow to start closing borders (most countries still haven't done it) and limiting exposure (isolation, quarentine...), so we're just starting to get hit. I really hope I'm wrong though.

GUWonder

I am betting that Sweden will soon be locking things down too. SAS’s remaining operations out of ARN and GOT will be under tremendous pressure too. Isn’t the news that SAS will lay off 90% of employees or something like that temporarily?

Sheikh Yerbooty

Important to make it clear they are not being fired, but sent home temporarily. Employees on Danish contracts will still be receiving their full pay. 75% of that pay, up to around USD 3500 per month, will be paid by the government to avoid mass lay-offs. I guess the Swedish and Norwegian governments will do the same.

skyplane

Important to note that the company is not near or close to bankruptcy! It’s just to stop bleeding money..