Pilot strike grounds more SAS flights as first Chapter 11 court date nears

Airline SAS headed into the third day of a crippling pilot strike which sent new bookings tumbling and prompted the cancellation of well over half its flights on Wednesday. The carrier, whose biggest owners are the Swedish and the Danish states, geared up for the first court date in its bankruptcy proceedings later in the week after it filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Tuesday to help cut debt. Talks between SAS and pilots over a new collective bargaining agreement collapsed on Monday, triggering a strike that adds to travel chaos across Europe and sparked heated trading of blame between management and unions in a region long praised for strong labour market models. There have been no negotiations with the Scandinavian airline since the strike broke out, a spokesperson for the Swedish Pilot Union told Reuters. "We are in principle still sitting and waiting for them at the table," SAS Chief Operating Officer Simon Pauck Hansen said. He said SAS had not been able to agree to a deal yet because the pilots had only met about half of the demands set out in the airline's comprehensive cost-cutting plan, which it says is crucial to its survival. "We must get the compensation level down so it matches other companies," Hansen said adding that SAS' pilots are about 30% more expensive if you measure what is being paid per day they fly compared to peers at other airlines in Denmark.<br/>