Scandinavian Airlines announces 230 layoffs after grounding its turboprops

STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Scandinavian Airlines announced Thursday it would lay off 230 pilots and cabin staff in the wake of a recent decision to stop flying its 27 turboprops.

"I can't give an exact breakdown but there are about twice as many cabin staff as pilots," said Mikael Lindberg, a spokesman for SAS Sweden.

Negotiations between the airline and the pilot and cabin staff unions are expected to begin next week.

SAS — the joint flag carrier of Sweden, Denmark and Norway — dropped the Bombardier Q-400 turboprops from its fleet on Oct. 28 after three crash landings.

The decision came a day after one of its planes made an emergency landing in the Danish capital of Copenhagen with a landing gear malfunction — the third such incident in seven weeks.

There were no serious injuries, but the SAS board said the accidents had affected passengers' confidence in the planes and that continuing to fly the turboprops could damage the airline's reputation.

The turboprop, also known as Dash 8, crash-landed twice in September — in Aalborg, Denmark, and Vilnius, Lithuania.

The airline said that dropping the planes would cost it up to 400 million kronor ($63 million) during the remainder of the year.

SAS has replaced the turboprops, which represented about 5 percent of its seat capacity, with other planes in its fleet as well as with leased aircraft.

The carrier demanded 500 million kronor ($78.25 million) in compensation from Bombardier for costs and lost income for the first two accidents involving the turboprops.

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