Logical landing crash head SAS

It’s getting worse In the conflict between management and pilots in the SAS. In the strike, there is often a struggle for words and a struggle for the truth. Then it is important to keep track of their interpretations.

It now appears Anko van der Werve, CEO of SAS, is embroiled in an exhausting circular argument.

on Thursday stock market announcement Van der Werf of the company says:

“The strike threatens the implementation of the Chapter 11 process, and ultimately the survival of the company.”

Chapter 11 process is the name for US bankruptcy protection that was recently granted SAS. The application for bankruptcy protection was sent the day after the strike became a reality.

The question then is: Can the head of SAS really accuse the pilots of ruining the bankruptcy protection process that the company itself initiated when the strike began?

At best, it smells of burning because of the arguments of the head of the SAS.

bankruptcy protection It became a staple of the SAS strike. Bankruptcy protection gives the company significant advantages when it comes to accelerating the SAS Forward savings program, which van der Werf and management have worked with for a long time, and which appears important to securing the company’s future.

In the process of bankruptcy protection, creditors cannot claim assets or obtain a mortgage on the business. This gives the SAS much more legal leeway when negotiating terms with creditors and others in restructuring the company.

Pilots’ associations believe the strike was provoked by management, specifically to secure an opportunity to file for bankruptcy protection.

The associations said frankly that they felt they were being used as pieces in a game.

This is a serious charge. In this case, tens of thousands of passengers are also pieces of the same game.

So the SAS manager has He rejected the link between strike and bankruptcy protection. The application has only been accelerated, and it has been in the planning stages for a long time. The company has been open about this the whole time, van der Werf says.

There may be, but there are still two problems with this interpretation.

First, the company has been completely silent when speculation about a possible Chapter 11 app has come to light Mentioned in an issue published by the Swedish newspaper Expressen In June, in the run-up to the strike. SAS will not comment.

Second, the explanation matches poorly with the company’s written justification for bankruptcy protection. in it official document Filed by SAS to the court in New York that processed and approved the application, the company listed the reasons for the application.

The first thing the company mentions is – specifically – a “union strike”.

It may seem that what we are witnessing now is a Colombian reboot.

Anko van der Werf is coming To SAS directly from the main job of the Colombian airline Avianca. There, too, he introduced a comprehensive restructuring of the company, while it was under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time, it was the corona and lack of financial support from countries in the region that were cited as external factors. Now, among other things, the strike is the official justification for the application.

There are also more similar things.

Connected E24 . has been mentioned An important goal for SAS in the Chapter 11 process is to eliminate expensive leasing agreements for large, long-haul aircraft.

Many of these aircraft are even unused, due to the fact that the epidemic and the war in Ukraine have destroyed the capabilities of many of the SAS’s long-distance routes to Asia.

This was fixed by van der Werff in the same way at Avianca. The company entered into the chapter 11 process In order to get rid of a number of leased aircraft and succeeded.

the hit Usually psychology. It’s definitely a factor in the SAS strike, and it’s easy to sympathize with SAS pilots who feel like game pieces about the department’s restructuring program.

Van der Werf’s behavior in conflict reinforces the impression.

The fact that the commander-in-chief is now leaving, in the rush of new negotiations, with the message that the strike threatens the process of bankruptcy protection initiated by the administration itself – and it has justified itself with the struggle with the pilots, must be experienced very provocatively.

It is a high stakes game. If all goes well, van der Werf could definitely move on to the next company in need of restructuring.