"Finnair has to cancel altogether approximately 100 flights leaving Helsinki Airport on Sunday 20 November and Monday 21 November. The Finnish Transport Workers' Union AKT has announced a strike regarding Finnair's cabin crew in Helsinki between Sunday 20th Nov at 3 p.m. EET [13:00 GMT] and Monday 21st Nov at 3 p.m.," the flag carrier said in a statement.
The strike does not affect flights operated by the Nordic Regional Airlines Oy (Norra, owned by Finnair) and flights whose cabin service is provided by Finnair’s partners, such as flights to Singapore and India. In addition, flights operated by other airlines’ aircraft and crew, such as to Barcelona or Madrid, are also not affected.
"We are deeply sorry for the concern and inconvenience this strike is causing our customers, and do our best to reroute our customers as soon as possible," Finnair Chief Operating Officer Jaakko Schildt said, adding that it is a pity that the labor union "has chosen the path of an illegal strike instead of negotiations."
Around 1,750 cabin crew members currently work for Finnair in Finland. On November 16, the airline announced plans to terminate up to 450 jobs (over a quarter of the entire cabin crew) in long-haul in-flight services and subcontract the services to partners on routes to and from Thailand and the United States by the end of 2023, to reduce the company's costs and achieve profitability.
Finland’s flag carrier specified that its partners are already providing in-flight services on routes to and from Hong Kong, India and Singapore, and between Copenhagen and Qatar’s capital, Doha, as well as Stockholm and Doha.