The transfer provides to the chance of journey chaos throughout Europe because the summer season trip interval begins.
The Stockholm-based group stated it had “voluntarily filed for chapter 11 within the US, a authorized course of for monetary restructuring carried out below US federal courtroom supervision”.
Scandinavian Airways (SAS) has filed for chapter in the USA, warning {that a} walkout by 1,000 pilots a day earlier had put the way forward for the provider in danger.
Submitting for chapter 11 in New York places civil litigation on maintain whereas the enterprise reorganises its funds, dubbed SAS Ahead.
SAS stated that its operations and flight schedule shall be unaffected by the announcement.
CEO Anko van der Werff stated that the strike had accelerated the transfer. “I feel now we have been very clear that this might occur,” he stated.
“The vital factor is that that is about chapter safety, it isn’t a few chapter, however it’s about monetary reconstruction.”
The provider stated it’s “in nicely superior discussions with quite a few potential lenders … to assist its operations all through this court-supervised course of”.
The rescue plan, introduced in February, is aimed toward securing long-term competitiveness.
Pilots reacted strongly to the information of the Chapter 11 submitting. Roger Klokset, head of the SAS pilots’ union, stated the group “had stretched negotiations and mediation from November final yr till the day earlier than the applying, with out ever having the intention of coming into into an settlement with the SAS pilots”.
The pilots in Denmark, Sweden and Norway walked out on Monday, citing insufficient pay and dealing situations and expressing dissatisfaction with the choice by the provider to rent new pilots to fill vacancies at its subsidiary airways, SAS Hyperlink and SAS Join, moderately than re-hire former firm pilots laid off because of the pandemic.
Mr van der Werff stated the strike was “devastating for SAS and places the corporate’s future along with the roles of 1000’s of colleagues at stake”.
The walkout is estimated to result in the cancellation of roughly 50% of all scheduled SAS flights, affecting round 30,000 passengers per day.
Flights operated by SAS Hyperlink, SAS Join and SAS’ exterior companions will not be affected.
The airline is part-owned by the governments of Sweden and Denmark.
