SAS lands deal with pilots' unions, ending 15-day strike

SAS and pilot unions have reached a wage deal, the Scandinavian airline confirmed on Tuesday, ending a 15-day strike over a new collective bargaining agreement that had grounded 3,700 flights and put the carrier's future in doubt. Shares in SAS jumped 12% in early morning trade, but then steadied and were up around 4% at 1223 GMT. They are still down about 40% since the beginning of the year. The airline, which filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on the second day of the strike, said the industrial action had cost it more than $145m to date and affected 380,000 passengers in the peak summer travel season. The deal will allow the airline to finalise plans in the next few weeks to raise $700m of fresh financing needed to see it through the bankruptcy protection process, it said. "The agreement we've made is what you could call an appetizing investment case," SAS Chairman Carsten Dilling told Danish broadcaster TV 2, adding that landing a long-term agreement had been "crucial" for SAS. The airline said the new 5-1/2-year deal with four pilot unions would help it achieve part of the $700 million of annual cost savings set out in a business transformation plan, known as SAS FORWARD, that also includes measures such as handing back unwanted planes to lessors. SAS still needs to "find a couple of hundred million" in annual cost savings to reach its target, Dilling said. Even before the pandemic hit, SAS, which has branded itself as a premium airline, was losing money amid rising competition from low-cost carriers. <br/>