Bankrupt SAS Losses Mount Even as It Plans 2023 Expansion

The red ink continued to flow at bankrupt SAS in November even as the airline plans for a strong summer travel season next year. The Stockholm-based carrier posted a $48m loss on $270m in revenue for November, according to a monthly filing with a US bankruptcy court. That was narrower than SAS’s nearly $90m loss in October, but comparable to its nearly $47m loss in September. These loss numbers include one-time restructuring expanses. The continued losses were expected, SAS CEO Anko Van der Werff said at the end of November. Speaking during a quarterly earnings call, he said the airline does not “expect to reach profitability within the next year despite our comprehensive cost-out program.” The “next year” is SAS’s fiscal year that ends in October 2023. Despite that, SAS had narrowed the gap between costs and revenues during the three-months ending in October, Van der Werff said. Travel demand, Van der Werff said, was at “decent levels” as the airline moved into the weak winter travel season. SAS filed for Chapter 11 in the US in July after it hit a roadblock implementing its 7.5b Swedish kroner ($717m) cost cutting program, which is known as SAS Forward. Aircraft lessors were named as the key sticking point by SAS CFO Erno Hildén in its bankruptcy filing. It had $1.53b in outstanding lease liabilities when it filed, plus $1.35b in long-term debt.. SAS has since reached agreements with lessors covering 80-90% of its fleet, Hildén said in November. Other needed savings include new labor agreements and other operational improvements. The airline had shrunk its operating fleet to 108 aircraft in December from 42 aircraft in February 2020, data from Cirium Fleet Analyzer show. SAS has shed almost all of its Boeing 737s, as well as some of its Bombardier CRJ fleet.<br/>