Dear Colleagues,

Norsk Flygerforbund (NF) has informed us that, due to the pandemic, SAS management laid off 560 pilots (40% of the workforce). Last September, the airline management informed its remaining employees that new companies were being established (“SAS Connect” and “SAS Link”). These companies will be based at current SAS bases in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm. The airline is undergoing a fleet change from B737 to A320 and Embraer E1, and the new airplanes will be placed within these new companies, reducing the SAS fleet from 100 to 39 short-haul airplanes.

Pilots that were fired are not being re-hired and must re-apply for their previous jobs on new Terms and Conditions via SAS Connect Crew Services or SAS Link Crew Services (fully owned SAS staffing agencies) and re-starting their careers. It is also likely that very few fired pilots will be employed in the new companies, as SAS management wants to evade business transfer laws in Scandinavia.

As a result of the above, NF requests, through IFALPA, the following Mutual Assistance:

Request for Recruitment Ban (2.4.3)
Request for the Denial of Training Facilities (2.4.4)
Request for Denial of Cockpit Crew Contracting (2.4.6)

All IFALPA Member Associations are requested to support SAS pilots by forwarding support letters to Captain Yngve Carlsen, President of NF yngve.carlsen@flyger.no and CC: sebastiancurras@ifalpa.org

NF will keep IFALPA and its Member Associations informed of any further developments.

In Unity,