The collective agreement between the parties expired on 31 December 2021 and the negotiating parties have therefore been negotiating the conditions of cabin crew since the autumn. Despite repeated rounds of negotiations, it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the renewal of the collective agreement and negotiations have now broken down.

Air Greenland, like the aviation industry worldwide, has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic for two years. However, this does not change the future the company also faces with new runways and thus increased competition. 

- Air Greenland came through the two years of Covid-19 financially well because we made the right financial adjustments early in the crisis, which also ensured that our employees were hit significantly less than others in the industry in terms of pay. That said, we also need to be realistic about the future we also face with new runways and increased competition. We must continue to maintain the generally good pay and working conditions we have at Air Greenland, but it must also be sustainable in the long term. In this context, it is crucial that we create the basis in the current collective agreements for us to have the financial room to also offer cheaper tickets to customers in the future, says CEO of Air Greenland, Jacob Nitter Sørensen.

The head of negotiations at Air Greenland, HR Director Mads B. Christensen says that during the negotiations different solutions have been presented, all of which have been rejected by the other party.

- Aviation in general is challenged, and the goal has been that wages in Air Greenland should be competitive in the long run and since the collective agreements our employees are employed on are already at the nice end of the industry today, this has of course made the negotiations with FPU extra difficult. The concrete proposal from our side includes a realistic wage increase in return for more flexibility in work scheduling than we have today, says Mads B. Christensen. 

It has been three tough years for Air Greenland, the first two years with the Covid-19 pandemic, and even though the company, compared to other airlines, came through the crisis well financially, it has been tough years for the employees. Throughout 2022, the operation has also been affected by unusually unstable weather conditions, which have led to many cancellations and delays for travellers. 

- After two years in which our travellers have experienced major disruptions to their Christmas holidays due to Corona, we now find ourselves in a situation where another strike warning from the FPU could well hit us in the middle of Christmas traffic again, which I am really sorry about. I hope, of course, that we can find a negotiated solution and thus avoid conflict," says Jacob Nitter Sørensen.  

If/when the FPU sends a second strike warning, it will be 7 days before the conflict enters into force, unless an agreement is reached in the Conciliation Body.

Should this be the case, Air Greenland will cancel all flights and offer refunds or changes to tickets.