SAS Cancels Additional Flights for Sunday Amid Pilot Strike

(Bloomberg) -- SAS AB canceled an additional 587 flights across Scandinavia scheduled for Sunday because of a strike by pilots, disrupting travel for an estimated 64,000 passengers, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

• The pilots are striking over pay, having started the action after rejecting measures proposed by a mediator in talks that have been going on since March.
• On Friday, Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen lowered the stock recommendation to hold from buy. In a note, he said that the strike is a surprise, showing that SAS is more vulnerable than the bank had thought.
• Sydbank also estimated that the strike could cost SAS 60 million kronor to 80 million kronor ($6.32 million to $8.42 million) per day, potentially denting SAS’s full-year profit if the strike were to continue for about 14 days.
• SAS said that it is doing all it can to help passengers, and seeks to reach a solution as soon as possible.
• The strike will not affect flights operated by SAS’s partners, which account for 30 percent of all departures, the airline said on Friday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hanna Hoikkala in Stockholm at hhoikkala@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Guy Collins at guycollins@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, James Amott

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