Finnair cancels almost 300 flights in run up to Christmas due to pilot strikes

A major European airline has announced it will be cancelling almost 300 flights two weeks before Christmas as pilots go on strike.

Finnair, the flag carrier airline for Finland, said on Saturday that industrial action would be taking place on 9 and 13 December, impacting approximately 33,000 customers.

The strikes will also impact some individual flights in the days before and after the strike.

Finnair has had to cancel around 140 flights from 9 December and 150 from 13 December. Customers will be contacted by the airline if their flight has been cancelled, and where possible will be offered a new route.

Finnair told The Independent that approximately 80 per cent of their customers have been offered new routing already.

The full list of cancelled flights includes domestic, European and international flights, with some cancelled flights also falling on 10, 11, and 14 December.

Due to the thousands of customers who will experience a flight cancellation in December, Finnair said it will not be possible to offer every person a re-routing that is close to their original booking.

In these cases, the airline asks them to contact customer service to find a suitable route option, and if that cannot be found, customers can apply for a refund of the ticket price.

“We are extremely sorry for the worry and inconvenience this situation causes our customers,” says Finnair’s COO Jaakko Schildt.

“Finding suitable new flights for thousands of customers takes time, and our customer service will be congested during the weekend, so we ask our customers to be patient.

“We are all doing our utmost to make it possible for our customers to carry out their travel plans despite this unfortunate situation.”

The Finnish Air Pilots’ Association called the strike due to the stagnation of negotiations between them and the Service Sector Employers Palta in Finland over voluntary flexibilities and cuts the pilots say they took in recent years due to Covid-19 and Russian airspace closure, according to the union.

The union says it is seeking compensation for its members’ working conditions following these cuts.

“We are extremely sorry for the possible inconvenience caused to our passengers by the work stoppages,” the association said.

“It is a matter of honour for pilots to transport our passengers safely and on time to their destination, but in this situation we have no other options under pressure from the employer.”

However, Palta said that pilots have been paid a bonus in autumn 2023 as a “reward in coping with crises in aviation” as well as being involved in an ongoing staff bonus system.

Schildt said it is “disappointing” that the union has “chosen to strike rather than negotiate”.

“This unfortunately disrupts the travel plans of thousands of our customers during the pre-Christmas season,” he added.

“We are doing everything we can to serve our customers well even in this difficult situation and will offer alternative flights to as many customers as possible.”

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