SAS airline pilots warn of potential strike from late June

Some 1,000 SAS pilots in Denmark, Norway and Sweden could go on strike from late June over disagreement on wages and ways to cut costs at the struggling Nordic airline, labour unions said on Thursday.

Some 1,000 SAS pilots in Denmark, Norway and Sweden could go on strike from late June over disagreement on wages and ways to cut costs at the struggling Nordic airline, labour unions said on Thursday. "We have been negotiating for months without being able to agree," Danish Pilot Union leader Henrik Thyregod said in a statement.

"We have gone to great lengths to help SAS, and we have offered the company huge savings. But we can under no circumstances agree to deteriorations (or wage cuts) of more than 30%, which SAS demands," he said. Unions and management have negotiated since last November and the collective agreement between the airline and the SAS Pilot Group union expired on April 1.

If an agreement is not possible, Danish pilots could go on strike from June 24 but would likely wait until June 29 when Swedish pilots can strike at the earliest according to local regulation, Danish chief negotiator Keld Baekkelund told Reuters. The news comes at a difficult time for loss-making SAS, which seeks to restructure its business by undertaking large cost cuts, raising new cash and converting debt to equity as part of a plan to rescue the carrier from collapse.

The company has already cancelled many flights ahead of the busy summer season, part of a wider trend in Europe and across the globe that has seen labour strife and staffing shortages impacting travel. The company's share price fell 4.3% by 1303 GMT to an all-time low of 0.635 Swedish crowns.

SAS was not immediately available for comment.