Finland’s flag carrier, Finnair, has warned its pilot’s workgroup that 90 of them could permanently lose their jobs unless their union agrees to a series of concessions in contentious wage talks that have resulted in ongoing and highly disruptive strike action.
With contract negotiations still in deadlock, more than 800 flights have been canceled and 90,000 passengers stranded due to an overtime ban and other industrial action being taken by the pilots.
The continuing disruption means that Finnair’s so-called ‘wet-lease’ deal with Australian airline Qantas for two Airbus A330 aircraft could be placed in jeopardy, meaning that 90 pilots would be surplus to requirement.
Under the terms of the long-term wet-lease deal agreed in 2023, Finnair provides not only the aircraft but also the pilots to operate medium-range flights on behalf of Qantas, such as Sydney to Singapore and Bangkok.
Finnair’s pilots who are based in Helsinki ‘deadhead’ out to Singapore and Bangkok on Finnair flights, where they then start their flying duties on behalf of Qantas before eventually flying back to Finland.
The flight cancellations and standby ban mean that Finnair pilots are sometimes struggling to reach Singapore and Bangkok in time to start their flying assignments with Qantas, resulting in disruption to Qantas services.
Qantas planned to lease the planes until at least 2027, but the ongoing industrial action by Finnair’s pilots means that the Australian flag carrier is now having second thoughts and could terminate the lease agreement.
Due to the ongoing closure of Russian airspace to Finnish airplanes, Finnair says it wouldn’t be able to easily redeploy its Airbus A330s due to their limited range, so if the lease agreement ends early, pilots on this fleet would be furloughed or terminated.
Finnair has not only rejected the pilot union’s “unreasonable” pay demands but is also demanding that standby duties be written into the contract. The union insists that standby should only ever be voluntary.
“Standby is an established practice in the [airline] industry, and I believe that every Finnair pilot recognizes it as part of their job,” said Finnair’s chief people officer, Kaisa Aalto-Luoto, on Friday.
“As the union has declined to agree on this, we are now preparing to include standby duty in the employment contracts of all pilots in order to secure regular and reliable flight operations,” Aalto-Luoto continued.
Interestingly, Qantas originally planned to ‘dry-lease’ Finnair’s A330s from late 2025, in which Qantas would have used its own pilots, cabin crew, and maintenance crews to operate the planes, so Finnair’s 90 pilot surplus would still be an issue.
“It is sad that the pilot union’s prolonged industrial action has led to a situation where we have to start change negotiations,” Aalto-Luoto lamented. “In our 101-year history, we have never needed to reduce pilot positions due to operational reasons.”
“Even when the Russian airspace closed and fundamentally changed our operating environment, we succeeded in securing employment for our pilots with collaboration arrangements.”
