SAS puts off sales verdict to avoid strike

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Scandinavian Airlines System flight attendants and other union workers may strike the Swedish airline this holiday season, a published report said.

The strike would disrupt all flight operations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, the business newspaper Dagens Industri reported.

"A big strike across the whole of Scandinavia would cost SAS about 100 million crowns ($15 million) a day and create huge problems for SAS customers," the daily quoted a source saying.

In the hope of staving off a strike, the SAS board said it would postpone any decision about the future of three "non-core" business units until late January, the newspaper said.

The unions are unhappy about possible job cuts resulting from a shutdown of SAS Ground Services, Technical Services and part of its cargo unit as the airline seeks to focus on core airline businesses to boost profits.

The units that may be cut employ about 10,000 people, Dagens Industri said.

The head of SAS' flight attendants union in Denmark would not comment on any job action possibilities when asked by Denmark's E24 business news service.