Airline cancels 300 December flights over pilot strike

Finnish carrier Finnair said Saturday it had cancelled around 300 flights on December 9 and 13 impacting 33,000 passengers due to a pilot strike called over stranded contract negotiations.

The Finnish Pilots’ Association (FPA) has been in negotiations for three months with the employers’ organisation Palta over working conditions laid out in a collective wage agreement.

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Earlier this week, FPA said the talks had reached an impasse and announced partial work stoppages on the two days in December.

Finnair said other flights in the days before and after may also be affected.

“It is disappointing that the Finnish Pilots’ Association has chosen to strike rather than negotiate. This unfortunately disrupts the travel plans of thousands of our customers during the pre-Christmas season,” Finnair said in a statement.