SAS job cuts announced Wednesday will affect about 100 employees in Denmark, the airline revealed today.
Some 300 full-time administrative positions will be cut world-wide, and according to company spokesperson Henriette Ellekrog the cuts will affect the three Scandinavian countries “fairly evenly”.
SAS employs about 5,000 people in Denmark including 600 pilots and 1,400 cabin staff.
The airline said the move is being made as part of its announced strategy to save 1.7 billion kroner this year, although expensive severance packages and reorganisation costs due to the cuts may prevent the airline from realising any savings until 2013.
The airline is working with employees and their unions to decide where and when the cuts will be made. Vacant positions will be cut and Ellekrog said that although some employees may volunteer to leave or retire, some layoffs are inevitable.
Managing director Rickard Gustafson said he regretted having to make the cuts, but called them “necessary”.
After posting a loss in 2010, SAS saw profits rise in the first half of 2011, after its passenger numbers rose by 1.5 million during the same period.
