Kjos to disgruntled pilots: – Can they get jobs elsewhere, they can do it – Dagbladet.no

(Dagbladet): – It is booming for Norwegian and the company’s CEO Bjørn Kjos. This morning he told the press about strong growth, nearly full flight, and a profit before tax of half a billion dollars in the second quarter.

Meanwhile notified Dagbladet that 24 pilots now have the choice between part-time job through the winter – or pay what they owe Norwegian training.

– They are basically swindled, said Norwegian Pilots Union leader Halvor Vatnar.

– Just a quote

Pilots suffered in winter debt to Norwegian of just over NOK 200 000 for training (“type rating”) Boeing 737. At least half of them were promised a job for two years for the company, but recently got to know that they would be left without a job from August /september.

- If they can get a job anywhere else, so they can do it. This is simply a set of offers that they have, said Kjos when Dagbladet asks if he has some advice for those who now have the choice to work 50 percent until April, or redeem debt.

The pilots are employed by staffing agency ARPI, but is now offered transition to Norwegian preferred staffing agency OSM Aviation.

– Lucky

– They have been fortunate to have received this education, and has been flying, says Kjos. He explains that it is only in exceptional cases that English takes into pilots who have not already called type rating for the aircraft type.

Debt repaid through monthly salary deduction of 2,000 euros. Those who accept the offer of part-time job, getting payment frozen throughout the winter months, but it resumed from April when they left to work full-time.

The pilots have been given until July 30 to say yes or no to offer.

Against Ryanair level

This morning told Kjos press that seven million passengers traveled with Norwegian in the second quarter – an increase of nine percent. New routes are created, both domestically in Spain and the Caribbean and the United States. And all the time cut the costs.

– Costs are always interesting for us, said Kjos from the podium at the Felix conference in Oslo.

Now aiming Norwegian to come down from 40 cents to 25 cents per ASK (Available Seat Kilometers, which measures available seats times of kilometers), a level where only Ryanair is today, when fuel is excluded.

Grows on

Revenues year to date at 9, 9 billion, against 8.6 billion in the same period last year. Kjos believe that English will continue to grow at the same pace as now.

– There we expect, he says to Dagbladet.

– How long?

– Especially on long haul (long distance) is not to be a problem the next five years, said Kjos.