Jainzar

It is DAT LT (i.e. Lithuania) in AY‘s case.

off2rome

anyone know what the chance is mediation will be successful before 29 June?? Are the two sides even talking?

CPH-Flyer

They are talking, but they are also escalating things. The Dansk Metal (the parent organisation of the pilot union in Denmark) announced strikes against SAS from the mechanics, and SK announced a lock-out of all cabin crew in Denmark organised under Dansk Metal. These two steps can't start on the 29th, but it does mean both sides are rolling out the heavy artillery.

cpworld

Any guesses on how long a potential strike may last?

LoungeLizardHugo

If SAS winds up canceling, due to the strike, a flight from CPH to USA in business would they rebook onto Qatar J (same departure/destination airports) if requested by the passenger?

Alternatively, if they cancel due to strike they then also must offer me the option of refund is that correct? Is that refund of half the ticket price or full ticket price?

Currently booked departure date is late next week. Best as I can tell from my research, it's yes to both but I'd be curious to hear from someone who may be more in the know. Thanks in advance.

CPH-Flyer

They would probably start with rebooking within Star Alliance, and on more direct routings than via Doha before going for the QR solution.

LoungeLizardHugo

Thank you for the feedback

dark_phoenix

If you have already taken the outbound, then they are obligated to find a way to get you on a return flight back to the US. If you haven't taken the outbound, they will offer you to rebook or refund your ticket. In the experiences I have had, they haven't offered travel on another airlines when they have gone on strike and I had not yet used the outbound.

Since fares are priced by segment, if you have used the outbound and you choose not to use the return segment, they may refund you for that segment, but who knows when you will actually see the money

Finally, if they do rebook you on another flight, it doesn't necessarily have to be business. They can book you on an economy flight and then work out some fare difference and potentially some other incentive depending on the pricing. You'll have to watch them to make sure they don't try sneaky stuff. That happened to a colleague of mine during the last strike. They put her on an economy flight with UA from the US when she paid for business on SAS. They tried to give her peanuts for the inconvenience because they went with a full Y fare with UA which was close in price to her SK business class ticket. She argued for and got an additional SK voucher.

So the tl;dr version is that you have options, but validate everything SK customer service tells you.

Good luck.

CPH-Flyer

In a fun development the same people from Dansk Metal (the union representing the Danish pilots) negotiating with SAS are also negotiating with Ryanair, some of them even being SK pilots, offering Ryan lower costs on a pilot collective agreement than what they are rejecting from SAS. Not surprisingly, SAS is not amused....

https://www.berlingske.dk/virksomhed...tte-og-ryanair

LoungeLizardHugo

Thanks for the feedback. Our outbound flight was direct USA to CPH, and we took it already. Return next week supposed to be direct SAS as well.
Yes, beware, understood. I'm thinking to take the refund and book my own return preference. Don't really want to fly LH or LX on a multilegged return 😬

Tomas E

There has been very little news since the mediators were appointed. I'm somewhat skeptical about a resolution in two days' time, because there are principles involved on both sides (using vs. not using SAS Connect and SAS Link instead of rehiring pilots, veto or not against further corporate restructuring, additional flexibility for SAS to schedule its pilots' working time...), rather just a couple of percentage points of salary difference. On some points, there might be room for compromise, perhaps rehiring some more pilots in SAS Scandinavia ("mainline").
Strikes has become quiet uncommon in Sweden over the last several years, but if memory serves me (and the tri-national character of the negotiations don't cause problems), mediators are sometimes able to delay a strike if semi-constructive discussions are still ongoing close to the deadline.
The 2019 strike lasted 7 days, it seems. This time around, I think it is difficult to estimate, but it could be long lasting since it is about principle. I don't think SAS could accept the pilot union's demands, since this would not just increase their costs rather than reduce them. It would also most likely take away the possibility to attract new outside capital which they need, and it would most likely take away any small interest of non-governmental stakeholders (such as leasing companies) to convert loans to stock. This would most likely lead to bankruptcy within a couple of months to a year, unless the airline market suddenly change quite a lot.
On the pilot's side, I don't really see how they could change their minds that easily. They've decided to call a strike when it will hit SAS and its private customers the most, and they know their 2019 strike was branded "a luxury strike" by customers and in media (at least Swedish media), so they seem to be rather insensitive to the PR aspects of striking. If they don't believe that "SAS Forward", or something similar to it, is the only way for SAS to survive, and haven't changed their mind after the Swedish government's message that they won't provide any new capital (although they will accept to convert the "covid loan" to stock, as a final piece support), why would they change their mind after a week or two? Their employer already knows that they're willing to strike since they did that 2019, so there is not really any need to have a short strike to drive home that message.
So I'm a bit pessimistic on both accounts, both the probability of there actually being a strike, and the length of a strike. But I'm willing to be proven wrong!

Barciur

To anybody with a cancelled or rebooked flight, keep in mind that if you arrive 4 hours later, you are entitled to a 600 euro compensation per EU261. Even if you get a refund and choose not to fly, it still applies. Do not let them get a pass on this.

CPH-Flyer

I don't know the normal flow for mediation in Sweden, but I would say it is more the rule than the exception in Denmark that the mediator would call at least one extension. While they do have to be convinced that a settlement is feasible, it not like they have to document why they think that.

I guess the compromise could be a X year period of no new production subsidiaries?

Tomas E

Perhaps I'm being too pessimistic here, but I get the impression that the pilot union wants SAS to roll back much of the change that has already happened and is ongoing with Connect, Link (and possibly also the additional volume of wet leases). I don't really think that SAS could agree to a freeze at the current level if X is more than 1 year or so, and any X > 0 may set a precedent they don't want to give the pilot union. Otherwise they would reasonably reduce the potential pool of new investors, since some of the elements of the corporate strategy would be locked in for a couple of years.

If the strike goes ahead on Wednesday, or a few days later after a delay initiated by the mediators (and accepted by the pilot union to show good will), I think we should keep our eyes open for new announcements from SAS regarding changes to SAS Forward, in order to achieve even greater savings. If there isn't already an alternative "nastier" plan with 0 pilots left in SAS Scandinavia (or SAS Scandinavia divested off after assets have moved to another part of the group), I'd be surprised. I consider myself a much nicer person that most management consultants, and even I have thought of this possibility. So I would expect such announcements to come very quickly after the strike starts, if it is meant to pressure the pilot union.
In principle, we could also look for the Danish and Swedish governments to change their previous position on loans (SE & DK) and new capital (DK), but this seems unlikely while a strike is ongoing. I don't think social democratic governments wants to bee seen interfering in an ongoing labour conflict (and it's close to the next election in Sweden), no matter what they actually think as owners.

ckx2

So if I'm one a codeshare flight operated by SAS I'm out of luck?
:S

Booked on SK605 on July 1st (LX Codeshare) which as of right now is "Likely to be canceled if strike occurs"