Norwegian Air Cancels Scandinavian Flights as Pilots Strike

Norwegian Air cancelled all of  its domestic flights scheduled for March 4 in Norway, Denmark and Sweden because of a widening pilots strike. The job action by the Norwegian pilots’ union Parat intensified just as cabin crewmembers with SAS went back to work following a four-day strike that forced that airline to cancel flights to and from Denmark.

Initially, 70 pilots represented by Parat struck on February 28 after mediation talks over a new collective labor agreement with Norwegian broke down. As of March 3, the union claimed “massive support” for the strike from several groups, including the European Transport Workers’ Federation.

In an announcement on its website, the airline stated: “Despite repeated attempts by Norwegian’s management to bring about constructive talks to avoid escalation of the strike, it has unfortunately not been possible to achieve a dialogue.” The airline, Europe’s third-largest low-fare carrier, cancelled all domestic flights in Scandinavia, including those between Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm. The cancellations affect more than 35,000 customers, it said. Specified Norwegian flights to and from the U.S., the UK, Spain, Finland and Thailand will operate on schedule.

Norwegian Air Norway is a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, which is based outside of Oslo. The parent company has run into trouble in the U.S. with its effort to secure a foreign air carrier permit for its Ireland-based subsidiary, Norwegian Air International (NAI). Labor unions in the U.S., Parat and several U.S. and European carriers oppose the application, alleging that Norwegian seeks to evade labor laws and pay pilots less by establishing NAI as an Irish airline.