Finnair’s aircraft taking off at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Vantaa. Photo: Vesa Moilanen / Lehtikuva
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Finnair announced on Monday it will furlough 36 long-haul pilots after industrial actions disrupted its ability to maintain operations under a wet lease agreement.
The airline said the furloughs are a direct result of changes to its agreement with another carrier. Under a wet lease, an airline provides an aircraft along with crew, fuel, and insurance.
Finnair had wet leased two Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft to Qantas for a two-year period.
However, the airline said it would now continue the collaboration on just one route. It did not name the route in its announcement.
Chief Operating Officer Jaakko Schildt said that the prolonged industrial actions by the pilots’ union, ongoing since December, had undermined the reliability required for the wet lease arrangement.
“Unfortunately, the pilots’ industrial actions have affected our ability to operate our wet lease operations with the reliability that is needed, resulting in changes in our collaboration and consequently, the need to furlough some of our pilots. The situation is unfortunate for all parties,” Schildt said.
Finnair confirmed that the furloughs will begin by the end of September 2025 and are expected to last until at least May 2026.
The announcement follows earlier warnings from Finnair. In February, the airline said that pilot furloughs were possible if the labour dispute continued. Earlier this month, Finnair also announced the cancellation of more than 200 flights during the summer season due to ongoing re
Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
