Tough times for SAS: files for bankruptcy in the US, strikes all over
Sad news for EuroBonus lovers. SAS staff announced a series of strikes during the holiday season in June, plus, today the company announced that they are filing for bankruptcy (Chapter 11) in the US.
When reading a bit more, the company showed a transformation plan called SAS FORWARD, where they explain how they aim to continue business as usual.
What does this mean for travelers and EuroBonus holders?
Not much for now. For travelers, there might be hundreds of cancellations, so keep an eye on your reservation and have a backup plan if you had a flight booked with SAS during the upcoming months.
For EuroBonus holders it’s even early to say. I had been in this situation many times. Most often it ends up in fewer options for redeeming flights and hotels, and it rarely ends up in major program restructures or even closure. My advice, for now, would be to stay put, but also try to book flights on Star Alliance airlines if you have upcoming trips coming up (or even ideas). Have a look at the AwardFares tool if you want to quickly check availability on different routes.
Read the full communication on the SAS website.
ACCELERATING SAS’ COMPREHENSIVE BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION PLAN
SAS is taking steps as part of SAS FORWARD, its comprehensive business transformation plan that was launched to enable the Company to continue to be a competitive player in the global airline industry.
On July 5, 2022, SAS initiated a court-supervised process in the United States by voluntarily filing for chapter 11. This process will provide SAS with legal tools to strengthen our financial position and accelerate our work with key elements of SAS FORWARD, while allowing us to continue running our airline.
Chapter 11 process is a legal process conducted under the supervision of the U.S. federal court system, which many large international airlines based outside of the U.S. have successfully used over the years to reduce their costs and complete financial restructurings.
OPERATING AS USUAL
SAS’ operations and flight schedules are unaffected by the chapter 11 filing, and SAS will continue to serve its customers as normal. Importantly, we expect to have sufficient liquidity to support our business and meet our obligations in the near term. In addition to SEK 7.8 billion in cash as of June 30, 2022, we are in well-advanced discussions to obtain additional financing.
For Customers:
- Your current bookings remain in effect and you will be notified as usual if there are any changes to our scheduled departures.
- You can continue to book flights online at flySAS.com or through SAS’ mobile app without service disruption. Reservations and all other customer services and systems will continue as they have been.
- You can continue using tickets, vouchers, and gift cards purchased before SAS initiated this process.
- We will honor all EuroBonus programs, services, and benefits, and you will be able to continue accruing and redeeming points earned through EuroBonus to purchase tickets with SAS during this process.
- We will continue to issue ticket refunds and honor travel coupons and payments or credits associated with baggage or service claims in adherence to our current policies.
For Suppliers / Business Partners:
- We will pay vendors and suppliers in full on normal terms for goods and services provided on or after the chapter 11 filing date.
- We are relying on the cooperation of all of our suppliers and business partners so we can drive our mutual success.
For Employees:
- You will continue receiving pay and benefits as normal.
- The chapter 11 process has no impact on your day-to-day responsibilities.
