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SAS and pilot associations reach agreement on pilot redundancies

August 28, 2008 19:43

This evening, the pilot associations and SAS reached an agreement regarding the principles for managing the redundancies in the company. SAS has previously announced that the Group has been forced to ground 18 aircraft as part of the Profit 08 action program. This program is to contribute to turn around the negative earnings trend in SAS, due to the record-high oil prices and the prospects of a recession.

The capacity reductions have resulted in pilot redundancies. These redundancies will take effect after voluntary measures have been taken, such as granting leave of absence. These redundancies will vary in the planning period up to the end of 2009. It will correspond to approximately 50 pilots in May 2009 and rise to approximately 90 in December 2009.

The agreement between pilot associations and SAS entails that measures to address the redundancies will be applied to those pilots who have reached the agreed age of retirement as on September 30, 2008. Taking into account periods of notice, this means that employment-termination notices will be issued to about 50 pilots effective September 30, 2008.

SAS pilots who have reached the agreed age of retirement will receive a minimum of approximately SEK 55,000 a month until the statutory age of retirement, at which time pension payments will increase to a least about SEK 70,000 a month.

“In this difficult financial situation that SAS and the rest of the aviation industry find itself in, we have also been forced to reduce the number of aircraft. Unfortunately, due to this measure, a number of our pilots will become redundant. The agreement that we have reached with the pilots’ trade unions entails that those pilots, who are entitled to a pension and who have secured financing for their retirement, will be made redundant instead of younger pilots,” says Claus Sonberg, Executive Vice President SAS Corporate Communications & Investor Relations.

SAS Group Corporate Communications

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