Pilot strike costs Norwegian Air $42M

Norwegian Air Shuttle said Friday it has lost more than $42 million due to a pilot strike that has resulted in widespread flight cancellations in Scandinavia. 

The company said Friday that the pilot strike has resulted in more than 2,000 canceled flights, which officials said have cost the company about 350 million Norwegian Krone (NOK), or almost $43 million in U.S. currency. 

{mosads}“Cancelled flights amounted to a loss of 120 MNOK, while additional costs related to taking care of affected passengers were 110 MNOK,” the company said in a statement, using an aconym for million NOK. “This includes purchasing tickets with other airlines, as well as food and accommodation for stranded passengers. The loss of income through loss of bookings ahead is estimated to be 120 MNOK. All in all, the strike cost Norwegian around 350 MNOK.” 

Norwegian Air has been at the center of controversy for its bid to gain access to airports that are covered under the U.S. and European Union’s Open Skies Agreement by establishing a subsidiary company that would be based in Ireland, which is a member of the EU. 

The Scandinavian company has said it will be able to offer transatlantic flights for as low as $150 each way if its effort is approved by the Department of Transportation, which has been reviewing the company’s case for a year.

Labor unions that represent various parts of the U.S. airline industry have said the Norwegian airline would only be able to offer the low fares by cutting corners on labor standards, but Norwegian and consumer groups have accused domestic carriers of being afraid of competition. 

Norwegian Air CEO Bjorn Kjos said Friday that international traffic has helped the company weather the Scandinavian pilots’ strike. 

“The strike among the Scandinavian pilots affected our company considerably and amounted to huge additional costs,” he said. “Fortunately, we continue to attract many new customers in Europe and America, which offsets the fact that customers in Scandinavia were forced to fly with our competitors for a period of time. Had we not had such a large customer base outside of Scandinavia and so many hardworking employees, the situation would have been even more difficult.”