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Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has filed for bankruptcy in the US, warning that a strike by 1,000 pilots a day earlier had put the airline’s future at risk.
The move raises the prospect of travel chaos in Europe as the summer holidays begin.
The Stockholm-based group said it “voluntarily filed a Chapter 11 application in the United States, a financial restructuring legal proceeding under the supervision of a federal court in the United States”.
Following a Chapter 11 filing in New York, the civil suit will be put on hold while the company restructures its finances, known as SAS Forward.
SAS said its operations and flight schedules would not be affected by the announcement.
Chief executive Anko van der Werff said the strike had accelerated the action. “I think we’ve been very aware that this can happen,” he said.
“The important thing is that this is about bankruptcy protection, not about bankruptcy, but about financial rebuilding.”
The carrier said it was “in advanced discussions with a number of potential lenders … to support its operations throughout the court oversight process”.
The bailout proposed in February was designed to ensure long-term competitiveness.
Pilots reacted strongly to news of the Chapter 11 filing. Roger Klokset, head of the SAS pilots union, said the group had “never intended to reach an agreement with SAS pilots, which extended from last November to negotiations and mediation the day before the application”.
Pilots in Denmark, Sweden and Norway went on strike on Monday, citing inadequate wages and working conditions and expressing dissatisfaction with the airline’s decision to hire new pilots to fill vacancies at its subsidiaries SAS Link and SAS Connect. Hire former company pilots who were laid off due to the pandemic.
Mr van der Werff said the strike was “devastating for SAS and put the future of the company and the jobs of thousands of colleagues at risk”.
It is estimated that the strike will result in the cancellation of approximately 50% of all scheduled SAS flights, affecting approximately 30,000 passengers per day.
Flights operated by SAS Link, SAS Connect and SAS external partners are not affected.
The airline is partly owned by the Swedish and Danish governments.
In 2018, Norway sold its stake but held the airline’s debt and said it might be willing to convert it into equity.
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