Strike-hit Norwegian Air resumes talks with pilots
Oslo (AFP) - Norwegian Air Shuttle, Europe's third largest budget airline, resumed talks with its striking pilots on Friday, hoping to put an end to a strike that has affected tens of thousands of passengers.
The two parties, who have accused one another of refusing any dialogue whatsoever, sat down with a mediator on Friday afternoon.
After negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement broke down in the early hours of last Saturday, 70 pilots walked off the job, followed by 650 across Scandinavia on Wednesday.
Since it began the conflict has affected more than 100,000 passengers, according to Norwegian, Europe's third largest budget carrier after Ryanair and easyJet.
On Friday nearly half of 500 scheduled flights were cancelled, mostly on domestic routes in the three Scandinavian countries and between their capitals.
Routes in other parts of Europe and long-haul flights were operating a near-normal service, the Oslo-based group said.
The Norwegian pilots, employed by its subsidiary Norwegian Air Norway, want to maintain tight organisational links with the parent company in the hope of safeguarding their jobs and to standardise salary conditions for all pilots employed in the various Scandinavian subsidiaries.
They also want to have a say in the status of employees on flights to and from Scandinavia, fearing they will be pushed out by cheaper staff working for subsidiaries based outside the high-cost Nordic region.
The company, which incurred its first loss in eight years lst year, is seeking to lower costs and benefits for pilots and to increase the flexibility of their employment contracts.
Faced with an impasse, Norwegian on Thursday announced a restructuring that would split its pilots across three different subsidiaries, drawing accusations from the pilots' union that they were trying to "divide" them.
