Photo: Finnair Cargo
Finnair has reached a tentative labour agreement with its pilots after 10 months of negotiations, but is set to be affected by upcoming industrial action by airport staff later this month.
The agreement was reached on 8 June and will cover three years, with the last year optional.
The tentative deal will now need approval by both parties’ administrators. Details on what the agreement includes have not yet been released.
“I am very pleased that we have reached a result after lengthy negotiations. Finnair pilots are a group of top professionals vital for our hundred-year history. This agreement is a platform on which we build our future together,” said Kaisa Aalto-Luoto, Finnair’s chief people officer.
The negotiations had resulted in several rounds of industrial action, including overtime and reserve recruitment bans, putting pressure on cargo operations.
The industrial action came to an end in May to allow negotiations to continue.
According to sister title, FlightGlobal, the two sides had clashed over such issues as pilot recruitment and the operation of Airbus A330s wet-leased to Qantas.
While negotiations with pilots have made progress, the airline continues to suffer from the impact of industrial action carried out by airport ground staff.
Most recently, the Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) has announced industrial action on June 17 and 19 that will cause ”large-scale disruptions to operations at Helsinki Airport”, the airline said.
Finnair flies over 600 flights on June 17 and 19. If the strike goes ahead, a majority of these flights will likely be cancelled. Also flights on days surrounding the strikes could be affected.
“Finnair will start cancelling flights on the strike days two days before the departure date of the flight, once it has a clearer picture of the available resources,” the airline said in a press release.
