SAS Airline Cancels Flight On Pilot Shortage, Though Passenger Volume Jumped

Several SAS AB SASDF flights were canceled as around 1,000 pilots walked out at its main SAS Scandinavia arm, overshadowing a traffic surge during June.
Reuters reported that collapsed talks between the airline and pilots over a new collective bargaining agreement prompted a strike.
During June, more than 1.9 million passengers traveled with SAS, an increase of approximately 220% compared to the same month last year.
SAS' capacity increased by approximately 150%. The total number of passengers increased by 7% compared to last month, and capacity increased by 6%. The flown load factor for June was 80%, an improvement of 33 percentage points compared to June last year.
"Overall ticket sales have been positive in June, even if the whole aviation ecosystem still faces challenges in the global ramp-up. The notice of strike from the SAS Scandinavia pilots' unions started impacting our bookings toward the end of the month," said Anko van der Werff, President & CEO of SAS.
The Stockholm-based SAS airline group said it had "voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S., a legal process for financial restructuring conducted under U.S. federal court supervision."
The company said it is in advanced discussions with several potential lenders to obtain additional debtor-in-possession financing for up to $700 million.
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