The wage negotiations between Icelandair and the Association of Icelandic Professional Pilots (FÍA) will be carried out carefully in the coming weeks, according to Boga Nils Bogason, CEO of Icelandair.
This morning, the contracting parties signed a joint statement on the continuation of collective bargaining negotiations. Work will be carried out according to the government conciliator’s project-managed plan for a new collective agreement under the duty of peace.
“It is very gratifying that we should achieve this landing and proceed to this project with deliberation in the coming weeks,” says Bogi in an interview with mbl.is.
There has been a certain amount of turbulence
Negotiations have made little progress recently, and the tone at the negotiation table had become “heavy and difficult”, according to state mediator Ástrád Haraldsson. Now it seems that the waves are receding in the talks.
“There has been a certain amount of turbulence and we are now in the period of high bailout, so this was starting to affect staff in many parts of the company,” says Bogi.
“It is important that we reach agreements that both ensure that Icelandair remains a highly sought-after workplace that offers good working conditions, but at the same time that we are competitive in order to seize the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Ástráður Haraldsson, state mediator in the Karp House today.
mbl.is/Eythór
The duty of peace brings stability
Several of the company’s flights have been canceled due to staffing problems in recent weeks. Bogi says that the duty of peace should prevent it from continuing.
“It’s natural in aviation that something can always come up and in May last year we flew 98.7% of scheduled flights. Now we fly 98%, so there was a 0.7% increase in cancellations compared to last year.”
“This statement and this peace obligation in the agreement should ensure a certain stability for us.”
There is no cold breath between the staff and the board
He says that overall the atmosphere is very good within the company and that there is no cold spirit between the staff and the board members.
“It’s honestly gotten a little bit worse in terms of the pilot group, though, and that’s something we need to work on.”
The statement says that the main goal is to negotiate a renewal of the collective agreement before September 15, 2026. Bogi says he is hopeful that it will be achieved.
“Yes, I’m always optimistic and we have a well-defined dialogue plan that both parties signed and a mediator submitted, so I’m optimistic that this will go ahead. The project will not leave us,” he concludes.
