SAS , RICKARD GUSTAFSON – Rickard Gustafson, SAS boss:

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Chief SAS fraudulent baggage prices, the Norwegian joke that upset him and the week that almost broke the company.

It's November 2012. SAS, the biggest airline in Scandinavia, is on the verge of diving. The owners, the three Scandinavian states, will no longer help. The creditors make strict demands.

The management, headed by new managing director Rickard Gustafson, is having a bad time. If it turns out that the company may go bankrupt, customers will stop buying tickets. Airports stop giving them fuel. If this happens, it's over for good.

On November 12, management will set a deadline. In case of disagreement with the unions on a new employment contract before November 19 at 9 am, SAS will go bankrupt.

Everything was done. The company had written a press release, "This is final call", which reported that after 67 years, Scandinavian aviation is a story. The bankruptcy manager responsible for managing the bankruptcy of SAS has been recruited. They waited in the room next to the SAS leadership and the unions negotiated.

Monday, November 19, nine o'clock beat. The deadline was up. The agreement was not yet in place. A union continued to stay.

– It was an imminent death experience. It was very close, says Rickard Gustafson at Nettavisen.

Read also: The boss of SAS says yes to the air royalty

mistrust

Yet, many people did not quite think that the SAS problems were real. True, the company lost money, but bankruptcy was still considered unthinkable.

Even few Gustafson employees believed it fully.

"When I started working at SAS, I noticed that there was a culture at SAS, many of whom did not believe enough in the information of management. that there was a hidden cooking tank, "said Gustafson, who in 2011 became the fourth boss of SAS in five years.

But the crisis was real. SAS had lost billions of dollars and its employees had entered into pension agreements that did not allow it to compete with new players such as Norwegian and Ryanair. When Spanair went bankrupt in 2012, SAS lost more than a billion dollars. The bankruptcy of Spanair has also become an existential crisis for SAS.

If they need help, borrowers have harsh demands. SAS had to have a credible plan to reverse the decade with deficits.

This meant new retirement agreements, lower wages and more work for employees.

"It was a very bad medicine, but we had to decide, either we have to taste the medicine, or the store closes here and now." 15,000 people lose their jobs, says Gustafson.

Insurers

Originally, there was nothing to indicate that it was the civil engineer Gustafson who was in charge of the SAS rescue operation. When he joined the company in 2011, he had no experience in the airline industry. He came from the insurance company Trygg-Hansa.

"I knew SAS well as a customer, but that was all – I was surprised to learn that I could be at the forefront of this job." But I thought I was going to regret if I did not say yes, said Gustafson.

SAS had suffered losses for ten consecutive years when Gustafson took office. Many thought that he had an impossible task.

"I knew it was a big challenge, but I did not think SAS would soon be on the brink of bankruptcy," Gustafson said.

Read also: Chief SAS: – The new tax is an existential threat for us

Silver in the cockpit

While SAS was negotiating with the union, the signs were becoming more revealing of the fact that it was at the end of the business.

This weekend, they had informed the pilots that they had to have their own money in the cockpit to refuel for the flight. Nobody would accept SAS credit. On Monday, the SAS pilots had to fly with the cockpit filled with money.

In addition, the company advised to cancel all intercontinental flights. They had to have planes in Europe if the company went bankrupt.

The decision was also a clear signal to employees. If they had not understood the seriousness before, they understood it now.

On Monday, October 19 at 11:37, they finally approved the new plan. SAS was saved.

It was 2 hours and 37 minutes after SAS bankruptcy.

Good atmosphere

Once the agreement was reached and the media management in order, Gustafson left the Kastrup airport room where they had remained without sleep during the past five days. He flew to Stockholm like in a bubble. In the plane, it was in a good mood.

"The passengers were happy and grateful for the company's survival and the airline staff was extremely grateful for the company's survival," said Gustafson.

He says that he then pondered the pressure that SAS employees should have suffered.

"When they took off from a plane, they did not know if SAS would still exist and they wanted a job when we landed, but they did very well, and I'm incredibly impressed," he says.

recovery

After the conclusion of the agreements, the development of SAS was completely different.

After 11 consecutive years, SAS made its first profit in the year following the entry into force of the agreement. After that, the arrows have mostly indicated for the company, which hopes to earn two billion crowns during the current year.

After 2012/2013, the company has reduced its costs by 5.5 billion, the number of employees by one third and reorganized its business. While SAS pilots took vacations in the summer, they now fly all they can during the summer months, which is considered the peak season for air traffic.

"We are proud to be here, many have abandoned us, but we are still here," said the SAS boss.

– What is the benefit of SAS?

"I hope I have contributed to something, but the bottom line is the SAS organization," Gustafson said.

Started at low cost

SAS has also made other major changes in recent years. The company sold Widerøe and let Irish City Jet take control of the smaller squares.

In order to thwart competition from companies like Ryanair, they also launched last year their own low cost airline, SAS Ireland, which could serve the cheapest routes, such as London.

Read also: Bjørn Kjos: – Ryanair pilots are on the waiting list to start in Norwegian

– On some itineraries, customers expect the ticket price to be 200 to 300 crowns. We could give up the destination but felt that it would be dangerous for us, as a company, not to visit places like London. It is better to have your own company that can compete on the same terms as Ryanair, "he says.

Previously, SAS was focusing on its ads because it did not pay seat reservation or baggage. Now they have completely turned around. If you choose the cheapest SAS ticket today, your luggage costs 295 crowns and the seat reservation, 179. That's more than what Norwegian and Ryanair take when buying the ticket the cheapest.

Gustafson excuses himself with the competition from Ryanair and Norwegian.

"We are not immune to the expectations of our customers, many customers are not interested in everything that is included, and we must be able to offer something to them," he says.

He points out that SAS also offers tickets in other classes of tickets, where these items are included. In many cases, this will bring you back if you bring your luggage and book a ticket.

– Looking for the absolute lowest price you can get, but you can not wait for everything to be included. We follow the customers and what they want. If that's what they want, then we can not ignore it. It's necessary and we had to do it, "says Gustafson.

Cancellations

But the creation of SAS Ireland has also caused problems in another way. The company and Gustafson himself were strongly criticized for the number of scheduled flights scheduled this summer. In June and July, SAS has established more than 700 flights.

Read also: 100,000 SAS travelers with long delays this year

– In July, SAS canceled 2% of all flights. Usually, the level is 1%. We are not happy with that. I'm sorry, said Gustafson.

He says that this is due to a mix of lack of crew, aircraft and very limited airspace across Europe.

Read also: The summer SAS of the year is a regular scandal

– Some SAS Ireland flights did not come and some pilots went to other competitors and took a vacation instead of working. It's a bit difficult to plan. But there is no explanation. We need to learn from it, "says Gustafson.

Read also: The best of July for SAS

Any Swedish together?

This year, the Norwegian state has also finally sold its products after 67 years of holding the company. The Swedish and Danish states are still owners.

Read also: The State sells its products completely by SAS

Spooky Tongues has already suggested that SAS means "Swedish all together". Swedish Gustafson agrees well with him and it is annoying.

"I know everyone says it, but it's completely wrong, we're a Scandinavian company, we're not all Swedish," says the head of SAS.

He says that Norway is the largest market for SAS and accounts for almost half of the company's traffic, thanks to the fact that Norwegians often make as many domestic flights per capita as any other country in Europe.

"Norwegian domestic traffic is completely unique, not only because of their geography, but also because of the political history of Norway, which is the opinion that the whole country has to live and that the regions are This is much clearer than in Sweden, says Gustafson, who was last year traveling to Norway from southern Norway to Svalbard.

– A fantastic country, he strikes.

Even he and his wife Christina, as he met at the Linköping University of Technology, loved to travel, even in their free time, happy with their two sons of 20 and 23 years.

"They are adults, but if the destination is good, they are there," says Gustafson, who claims to be a "normal" person in private.

"I do not play golf and I do not hunt, I like running, cross-country skiing and staying in touch with old friends," says Gustafson.

Will save the climate

Although many aviation players are reluctant to ask questions about climate emissions, Gustafson is keen to find solutions to the climate problems associated with the aviation sector.

"Sustainability is an existential problem for airlines, we will not just wait for what we need to do," said Gustafson, who has invested $ 50 billion in new, more environmentally friendly aircraft and announced investment in biofuels, which will reduce aviation emissions.

"Once in the future, there will be no more aircraft on the wings, but it is probably only in twenty years, we can not do anything between 2020 and 2040. Therefore, I think that jet fuel Biological is a solution, said Gustafson.

SAS is associated this year with the Swedish oil company Preem for the development of biofuels for aircraft.

"But I'm convinced that 20 years is not an internal combustion engine, it's something else." I'm an optimist in technology, says Gustafson.

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