Pilots at Scandinavian carrier SAS have walked off the job in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, stranding more than 72,000 travelers as 673 flights were cancelled.
The airline told Al Jazeera News that total of 1,409 pilots is on strike today – affecting domestic, European and long-haul flights, predicting that 170,000 passengers would be affected through Sunday.
The Swedish Air Line Pilots Association, which initiated the strike, said months of negotiations had failed to find a solution to pilots’ “deteriorating work conditions, unpredictable work schedules and job insecurity”.
Swedish Confederation of Transport Enterprises meanwhile said it could not accept the 13-percent wage increase demanded by the pilots, given their “already high average wage of 93,000 kronor ($9,769) a month”.
The pilots’ association said work schedules, and not wages, were the main focus of the negotiations, as most SAS pilots have to work variable times and days.
