Finnair is to furlough nearly 40 long-haul pilots for at least eight months in relation to the continuing dispute over its wet-lease operation for Oneworld partner Qantas.
Qantas wet-leases two Airbus A330s for services on the Sydney-Bangkok and Sydney-Singapore routes.
Finnair says the arrangement has enabled it to find use for the A330s and offer work to about 90 pilots.
But industrial action by the Finnish pilot union SLL since the end of last year has affected the airline’s ability to operate the services “with the reliability that is needed”, claims chief operating officer Jaakko Schildt.
As a result the Qantas collaboration will be reduced to just one route.
Finnair is to furlough 36 long-haul pilots by the end of September, a measure which will last at least until May next year.
“The situation is unfortunate for all parties,” says Schildt.
Finnair had warned in February that it was considering cutting pilots as a result of the dispute, which had escalated to include a standby ban.
SLL had insisted, in response, that the union had “protected” the Qantas wet-lease operation throughout the negotiation process, and that it has sought to preserve the reliability of the Sydney flights.
