Finnair stops planned outsourcing of cabin crew

Photo: Alex Len @WikiCommons
Photo: Alex Len @WikiCommons

Months after the official negotiations between Finnair and their cabin personnel’s union had ended without results a new deal has been made. This means that Finnair’s plan to replace their Finnish cabin crew with cheaper labor from Asia has been scrapped.

Finnair and the Finnish Cabin Crew Union(SLSY) have reached an agreement that will protect the cabin personnel from outsourcing the next four years. The exception will be the Finnair routes to Singapore and Hong Kong, where Finnair have already signed a contract with OSM Aviation to provide them with personnel for cabin services.

“I am extremely happy and relieved that we were able to negotiate successfully with the cabin personnel. The negotiations have been long and gone through many phases, but the most important thing is that agreement was finally reached,” Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo says in a press release.

And the CEO has a reason to be happy, according to Finnair the savings from the agreement will be EUR 18 million annually. In the spring the SLSY offered an agreement that would provide Finnair with annual savings of EUR 12 million. Back then Finnair reclined SLSY’s proposition and earlier this fall they presented their plans of outsourcing cabin crew on both intercontinental and European flights.

Chairwoman of SLSY, Thelma Åkers, tells the national Finnish Broadcaster YLE, that the cabin crews wages will be cut by less than 10 percent, while flight attendants and stewards will have to work 15 hours extra every month.

Read more: Finnair outsources cabin operations to Asians

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