At midnight on Thursday, there is a deadline for yet another mediation in the airline industry. In recent weeks, several strikes in aviation have been averted. Most recently among the Norwegian pilots on Thursday morning. Now it is the Norwegian Aviation Engineers’ Organization (NFO) and NHO Luftfart (Næringslivet’s Main Organisation) who are sitting in a meeting at the Riksmekleren. They need help to find a solution after the breakdown in salary negotiations in May. If the parties do not agree, there will be a strike already from Friday morning. This weekend also marks the start of the summer holidays for many school pupils around the country. According to figures from Avinor, as many as 1.8 million travelers will pass through the four largest airports in Norway in the next two weeks. The potential strike will affect maintenance and repairs on aircraft from both SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe. Aircraft with faults may be grounded for the weekend. Photo: NTB Flyexpert predicts chaos NHH professor Frode Steen believes the passengers will quickly feel the consequences – should there be a strike this weekend. NHH professor Frode Steen believes the passengers will notice the consequences of a strike. Photo: Hallvard Lyssand / NHH He points out that there are strict requirements for the aircraft and safety. And that people who are at work cannot do the work for the striking aircraft technicians. – You can compare this to a car. If you get a red warning light in your dashboard, you can think that “yes, I can wait and take it to the next service”. But you can’t do that with a plane, it has to be put directly on the ground, he explains. It does not help that the mediation takes place just before the busy summer season begins. – The capacity of the aircraft technicians is already maximized, believes Steen. At the same time, the economics professor believes that the airlines have few resources to draw on, and that the possible strike will therefore not be very long-lasting. Many people go to warmer regions during their holidays. Photo: Petter Strøm / news Crushing calm at the airlines NFO has initially announced the resignation of 30 members. In total, there are 480 aircraft technicians in Norway. For the time being, it does not seem that the airlines are particularly concerned about chaos at the airports. At Bergen Airport Flesland, six aircraft technicians from Widerøe Technical Services will be out of work from Friday morning, should there be a strike. The information board at Flesland in Bergen. Photo: Stian Sørum Røkenes / news – We are planning for normal operation. Should there be some operational disruptions, affected passengers will be contacted, says communications advisor in Widerøe, Lina Lindegaard Carlsen to news. The company asks passengers to meet at the airport as normal, unless they have been told otherwise by them or the travel company they ordered the flight ticket from. Press manager at SAS, Joachim Sponheim, writes in a text message that a strike will have a limited effect on air traffic. Norwegian has stated to NTB that it is too early to say anything about possible consequences. National mediator Mats Wilhelm Ruland is also optimistic, but points out that there is much to be done, according to NTB. Flight technicians at the airport in the capital may also be taken out of work on Friday. Photo: Torbjørn Brovold / news Steep fronts between the parties It was reported that there was relatively little distance between the parties after the salary negotiations in May. However, the distance must be large when it comes to questions about the arrangement of work and leisure for the technicians. The aircraft technicians last went on strike in the summer of 2022. NHO Luftfart is retrieving a move from that time, and has announced layoffs in the air ambulance service, a so-called lockout. On Monday, NFO came out strongly against this. They call it an attempt at “union-busting”, where the employers’ organization forces a forced wage board by affecting life and health. NFO claimed in a press release that the air ambulance technicians are not initially part of the strike, precisely to prevent lives and health from being at stake. Archive image of aircraft technicians in Tromsø. Photo: Jørn Inge Johansen / news The parties do not wish to comment on the case to news on Thursday while the mediation is ongoing. NHO Luftfart refers to the answers they gave to Dagbladet before the mediation started. There they deny that the air ambulance technicians were not part of the original strike, or that it is abnormal to go to a lockout. Published 20.06.2024, at 17.01
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A strike for aircraft technicians may have consequences for air traffic during the summer holidays – news Vestland
