If Air Greenland’s cabin crews go ahead with their planned strike on 23 July, up to 2,000 passengers could be affected. The airline’s website states “After long negotiations the parties have not come up with a satisfactory agreement. Air Greenland has gone very far in trying to find a solution and regret that the situation has come to a conflict.”
In response to the lack of an agreement, Air Greenland activated its strike hotline on 19 July. The carrier said it will attempt to contact affected passengers directly and place them on other flights if possible, according to Sikunews.
If the strike happens, Air Greenland will be forced to cancel virtually all of its flights until things are resolved between the airline and its cabin crew. Nearly 50 per cent of those affected will be travelling within Greenland, which only has a handful of helicopter flights available to compensate for the disrupted domestic travel.
It is expected the strike will cost the airline around one million kroner per day. Christian Keldsen, Air Greenland’s vice-president for sales and marketing, said even though the carrier had offered its cabin crew significant improvements in their work conditions, it was not enough for the employees’ union.
“We have stretched ourselves very far in view of the financial crisis and declining passenger numbers,” Keldsen told Sermitsiaq. “While other airlines negotiated a wage freeze or direct wage cuts, we have offered the cabin crews what amounts to at least a 10 per cent increase in their current salary.”