Negotiations will start on 23 November 2023 and end at the beginning of January 2023. Services will be subcontracted from partners by the end of next year.
The partners already offer in-flight services on the airline’s routes to Hong Kong, India and Singapore, as well as on the routes between Copenhagen and Doha and Stockholm and Doha.
“Our goal is still to find a cost-saving solution together with our cabin crew” stated Topi Manner, CEO of Finnair. “We now need a genuine will from the negotiators to find solutions that will allow us to continue the flight with our crew and avoid layoffs. Discussion of alternative solutions is a vital part of the change negotiation process.
The airline said it had discussed cost-saving measures with its staff throughout the fall and proposed changes to the cabin crew regarding operational efficiency, the rules for stopover hotels and the hourly wage regulations for long flights. It added that an agreement was reached with some employee groups, but not with the cabin crew in Finland.
Finnair reminded on Wednesday that it accumulated significant losses during the coronavirus pandemic and that the closure of Russian airspace has weakened its ability to cover them. The closure of the airspace has significantly extended the airline’s previously strategic cornerstone flights over Russia to Asia.
The airline has made a comparable operating loss of around 470 million euros for the first three quarters of the year and almost 600 million euros in 2020.
Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday reported the news of the subcontracting plans came as a shock to Finnair’s cabin crew.
“The fact that Finnair intends to reduce its cabin crew is quite shocking news, because we have been struggling with the sufficiency of personnel throughout the summer and even the fall,” he commented. Marianne ArtevaChairman of the Finnish Travel Crew Union (SLSY).
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page
