The Finnish Air Line Pilots' Association rejects settlement proposal by national conciliator; Finnair prepares to cancel individual flights as pilots start standby ban
Service Sector Employers Palta and the Finnish Air Line Pilots' Association SLL have been negotiating on a collective labour agreement for Finnair pilots since August. SLL has today rejected the settlement proposal submitted by the National Conciliator on Monday 9 December, which the employer would have accepted.
The Finnish Air Line Pilots' Association SLL will start a standby ban on Finnair pilots on 12 December, which, together with the already ongoing overtime ban, will impact Finnair’s flight operations and lead to cancellations of individual flights.
During the standby ban, pilots will not come to work from on-call shifts, so when a pilot falls ill, for example, on-call pilots are unavailable and the flight has to be cancelled.
"Unfortunately, cancellations resulting from these industrial actions come at very short notice and disrupt our customer’s travel plans," says Jaakko Schildt, Chief Operating Officer at Finnair.
When Finnair has to cancel a flight, a new routing will automatically be provided for the affected customers. Customers will be notified of the cancellation of their flight by email or SMS and they can see the new routing in Finnair's Manage booking service and mobile application as soon as the rerouting has been made. Finnair also provides customers care and accommodation if the flight is postponed to the next day.
"We do everything we can to secure our customers' travel plans during the holiday season," Schildt continues. "Many foreign tourists come to Finland during Christmas and New Year, and possible flight cancellations will inevitably hurt Finland's attractiveness as a winter travel destination. I am extremely sorry that the industrial action by pilots is causing such worry and inconvenience to our customers."
”I hope that the negotiators will genuinely seek solutions at the negotiating table. Finnair’s operating environment has changed considerably as the Russian airspace is closed, and we must find solutions for this together”, Schildt says. ”Finland needs flight connections and a competitive flag carrier. A competitive Finnair is key for ensuring future jobs both at Finnair and in the Finnish travel industry at large.”
Further information:
Finnair Media Desk, +358 9 818 4020, comms(a)finnair.com
www.finnair.com, www.company.finnair.com
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Finnair blog: www.bluewings.finnair.com
About Finnair
Finnair is a network airline, specialising in connecting passenger and cargo traffic between Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe. Finnair is the only airline with year-round direct flights to Lapland. Customers have chosen Finnair as the Best Airline in Northern Europe in the Skytrax Awards for 14 times in a row. Finnair is a member of the oneworld alliance. Finnair Plc’s shares are quoted on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange.