Finnair To Suspend Flying For Days

Finnair has announced it will be forced to suspend and cancel flights across key markets on December 9 and 13.

According to an announcement from the Finnish Air Line Pilots Association, strike action will result in cancellations and flight suspensions.

Ultimately, the strike is slated to affect around 300 flights and will, therefore, have a knock-on effect, affecting the travel plans of over 30,000 Finnair customers.

The airline’s Chief Operating Officer has said strike action is disappointing as negotiations have seemingly broken down. The airline said it would’ve preferred to continue negotiations rather than have employees walk off the job because of the significant disruption that would be caused.

Furthermore, the strike will occur during one of the busiest periods of the calendar year as travel gears up for Christmas and other festive periods.

However, it shouldn’t be a shock that this timeframe was selected to ensure the maximum impact on the business could be felt. The pilots saw this as a last resort to get their point across for better pay and conditions.

Strike action has been a common theme industry-wide, with employees ranging from airline pilots to cabin crew and ground staff seeking far better wages and overall security for their positions.

Much of this has stemmed from not just their counterparts across other countries obtaining better deals but also because of the significant increases in the cost of living. These employees feel that they deserve to be better compensated for their work.

Breaking down the cancellations, Finnair says there’ll be 140 flights on 9 December and 150 flights on December 13, with specific information on the cancellations expected to come in due course.

We are extremely sorry for the worry and inconvenience this situation causes our customers. 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.

Finnair’s Chief Operating Officer Jaakko Schildt. 

Finnair states that due to the large number of customers expected to be impacted by the cancellations, not all will be able to be offered a simple, effective, and close-to-original destination reroute.

The Finland-based company has said, however, that it’ll do everything in its power to ensure that customers have a suitable option and encourage those affected to contact the airline.