Scandinavian airline SAS has posted a larger first-quarter pretax loss than expected and blamed rising fuel costs and competition with overcapacity in the market. The airline, which is half-owned by the governments of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, made a pretax loss of 104 million euros.
SAS also said it will lay off about 1,000 of its 25,500 employees and cut its fleet of planes by 5% - that is 11 aircraft. SAS's chief executive, Mats Jansson, said that is an expansion of a previously announced restructuring programme. He added: "The situation in the air-travel industry is serious. For this reason it is vital that we turn around the earnings trend."
SAS is hoping to save 120 million euros this year through the restructuring. The job cuts, which would include pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and maintenance workers, are opposed by the unions but the airline said it will be tough, picking the right moment for a fight.
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