Heard an intersting rumour last week. 10-15 pilots (swedes?) asked for special leave (permisjon) to go work for Ryanair and Emirates, which (of course) was turned down by the company. So, they all quit and are now working abroad. Is this a true rumour?

Also, I know there is a lot of rumbling among the ranks over pay and working conditions (esp B767 to TYO and BKK). SAS has slipped from being one of the better payed airlines to below average. At the same time SAS is very short of pilots. Can anyone working in SAS tell us what is being done to prevent people from leaving?

Det skulle ikke undre om det er rigtigt, for i Maersk Air sluttede to kaptajner og gik i Ryanair for at få det dobbelte udbetalt. De fik heller ikke orlov !

Hrm!!! SAS salery is not below average, and SAS is a great company. I don´t think the problem is SAS, it is more the extremly high tax pilots (and other people who have a high income) have to pay.

"SAS salary is not below average".

Danish Pilot; you should open your eyes. You might be in for a surprise.

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"Recovery was marginal..."

The salarys at SAS is on average 40% below Lufthansa and they want a 20% increase.
The salarys in Scandinavia is way below the rest of europe. This is kind of strange considering the cost per employee is slightly more than in the UK. (According to Dagens Industri). Germany has the highest cost per employee.

I hope we will se some kind of action from our unions within the near future otherwise more pilots will leave for better pay and conditions.

We have to realise that we are way underpayed in Scandinavia comparing to our friends in the rest op europe.

sincerely,

Back to the original question. Today I heard rumours that a couple of STO-based pilots have left SAS for Cathay, and that others have left for more desireable airlines i Europe. Does anyone know if this is true?

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"Recovery was marginal..."

Heard that one too, + a FO one his way, to United! Another applying to BA!

Hhmmmmmm.........!!!

Big mistake from DP, sorry folks. I shouldn´t have said that SAS salery is not below average.

Tcas,

From what I've heard the pension is well below the standard in comparable european companies. Not to mention the Americans.

But, I think it would be a good thing for the rest of us if more pilots left SAS for higher pay and better conditions. That would give SAS competition. It would get us a little bit closer to a competitive pilot market where SAS would have to pay a market price for our services. That's why I'm interested in these rumours. If true, they might mark the beginning of a new trend.

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"Recovery was marginal..."

Haven't seen the two Swedish guys from SAS in Hong Kong yet. Are you sure they went to Cathay and not Dragonair, which traditionally has been quite popular with Swedes?
Regarding the SAS pension, then isn't it 60% of final salary for 10 years and then a lot less after that? Although, probably the best deal in Scandinavia, I don't think it quite matches what goes on in the rest of the world. Especially considering that the SAS pay scale is relatively flat and final salary after 30 years is a lot less than comparable airlines.
Tcas etc., I think you guys deserve more!

What I wrote is what I have heard. It's rumours.