Scandinavian airline SAS, in financial difficulties, announced this Tuesday that it has begun filing bankruptcy in the United States as part of an ongoing economic plan.
The measure was announced by the company a day after the start of an indefinite strike by Scandinavia’s main pilots union.
“Apart from the effects of the strike, SAS activities and flight plans will not be affected by this measure. [pedido de falência nos Estados Unidos] and SAS will continue to serve customers as normal”, said the company, which is majority-owned by the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish states. In the United States, the use of “Chapter 11” is a legal provision that allows a company to Allows the company to pay off its debts by encouraging the “protected” restructuring process from creditors and keeping operations running.
SAS expects to use the process over a period of “nine to 12 months,” the company’s managing director, Anko van der Werf, said during a press conference.
One of the benefits of choosing security in the United States, as opposed to in other countries such as Sweden [onde se encontra a sede da empresa] The ownership of the aircraft is maintained, the director general of SAS explained.
According to the company, North American “Chapter 11” aims to accelerate the transformation of SAS by implementing the ‘key elements’ of the Continuous Savings Plan (SAS Forward).
“We have to do much more and faster,” said SAS president Carsten Dilling, adding that it was a “well-thought-out” decision given the company’s “very high cost structure”.
Weakened by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and recurring losses, SAS announced in February a savings plan of around €750 million per year, reinforced by a €1 billion capital increase plan in June.
Denmark, which, like Sweden, owns 21.8% of the company’s capital, said it was ready to take the stake.
Sweden and Norway agreed to convert credit into equity.
