Chief Marketing Officer, Cirium
By Mike Malik, Chief Marketing Officer at Cirium
Winter in Scandinavia can be unforgiving, but Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) doesn’t let a little snow slow it down. In 2024, SAS earned the title of Europe’s third most on-time airline, trailing Iberia, and secured a top ten spot in the Global On-Time Category, according to Cirium’s On-Time Performance Review. Achieving such reliability in a region where winter weather is a constant adversary speaks volumes about SAS’s ability to rise above the elements—and the competition.
For SAS, last year’s impressive on-time performance caps an eventful period with many changes. In 2021, with the pandemic still present, the company welcomed Anko van der Werff as its new Chief Executive Officer. He quickly began work on securing the airline’s future, warning all stakeholders that this would require big changes. As he wrote in the company’s annual report at the time, “The future remains uncertain which means, to be able to compete in the long term, the transformation of SAS must continue and be accelerated.”
Van der Werff faced many challenges. To compete with Europe’s many low-cost carriers, SAS needed to reduce its own costs.
It also had to simplify its operations, be a leader in sustainability, work closely with unions, and deliver industry-leading service. In the years just before Covid, SAS was only slightly profitable. In its fiscal year 2019, for example, it earned a net profit of just 621 million Swedish krona on about 47 billion krona in revenue. That’s a profit margin of just 1%. It then lost nearly 16 billion krona in the next two years, which were hit by Covid. Like many other airlines around the world, it survived the crisis with the help of government financial assistance, in this case from the governments of Denmark and Sweden.
Navigating the Storm
Van der Werff’s task didn’t get any easier when SAS pilots staged a 15-day strike during the peak summer season in 2022. The strike led to roughly 4,000 cancelled flights affecting more than 380,000 passengers. In addition, the closure of Russia’s airspace affected the airline’s routes to Asia. A jump in fuel prices, volatile exchange rates, and air traffic control disruptions further impeded Van der Werff’s efforts. Just as the strike was getting started that summer, SAS took the difficult but necessary step of filing for bankruptcy.
“Following new ownership and the successful completion of our restructuring, SAS is emerging as a competitive and financially strong airline.”
September 2024
Anko Van Der Werff, CEO, SAS
Van der Werff’s “SAS Forward” plan set the course for recovery. The strategy focused on cutting costs, renegotiating labor agreements, and broadening revenue streams, including boosting ancillary sales. It also introduced new leisure routes, such as Copenhagen to Bangkok, invested in digital transformation, and put a spotlight on on-time performance and reliability. During the winter month of February last year, SAS cancelled only 136 of its 16,026 scheduled flights, less than 1%—a clear sign that the plan was delivering results, especially given that the industry average for cancellations is 1.6%. Anything below 1% is considered exceptional performance.
A New Era with SkyTeam
Air France/KLM was impressed enough to buy 20% of SAS, helping the carrier exit bankruptcy last August. “This marks the start of a new era for SAS,” the airline said. With its new partner, it switched from the Star Alliance to SkyTeam. It started a new Copenhagen route to Delta’s Atlanta hub. Next summer, it will add a Copenhagen route to Delta’s Seattle hub. Next autumn, it will add Copenhagen to Korean Air’s home airport Seoul Incheon, another SkyTeam hub. It also signed a codeshare agreement with SkyTeam’s Virgin Atlantic. Van der Werff has said he’d like to join Air France/KLM’s transatlantic joint venture with Delta and Virgin.
Also last year, SAS welcomed its eight millionth Eurobonus member. Another highlight was announcing a major expansion from Copenhagen airport, which it’s positioning as “a key international gateway to and from Scandinavia and Northern Europe.” It explained, “Copenhagen’s attractive location in continental Europe allows for efficient same-day travel across Northern, Central, and Western Europe. The hub will also serve as a key transit point for long-haul travel, connecting Europe with North America and Asia.”
This year is off to a good start. As mentioned, Cirium was proud to recognize SAS for becoming one of the world’s most on-time airlines. “Our colleagues have joined forces to address what we know customers care most about: punctuality,” said Van der Werff.
“This achievement highlights the dedication and teamwork across SAS, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible efforts and hard work of our colleagues.” He added, “Punctuality is about fulfilling our promise to passengers while supporting more sustainable travel. By managing the unique winter challenges in Scandinavia—snow and freezing temperatures for several months each year—SAS continues to provide reliable service. This underscores what we can accomplish with clear focus and collaboration.” Interestingly, SkyTeam members were heavily represented among last year’s on-time leaders, with Delta winning the Platinum Award for the fourth consecutive year for operational excellence and the most on-time airline in North America, Aeromexico, taking the number one spot in the Global Airline category, followed by Saudia in the second spot.
Looking Ahead
This will be a year of growth for SAS again. As Cirium’s Diio airline planning tool shows, SAS has 11% more seats scheduled this third quarter (its peak season) than last. Seats to and from Copenhagen will be up 20%! The airline will still be about 9% smaller than it was in the summer of 2019, based on seat capacity. However, it will be bigger in Copenhagen, by 14%. Surely, new routes will come as new planes arrive. Cirium’s Fleets Analyzer tool shows SAS currently has two more A350s arriving, plus another six A320neos. It now has 91 planes in total, 11 of them widebodies. Three of its A321neos, furthermore, are long-range “LR” versions.
Strength in Resilience
Despite all the challenges, SAS has emerged as a symbol of resilience. Its strong on-time performance reflects the airline’s commitment to reliability. From new alliances to an expanding network, SAS is setting itself up for long-term success. For an airline that weathered a financial storm, navigated labor disputes, and emerged with a renewed sense of purpose, SAS is flying high again.
While the temperatures in the Nordic region may stay icy, SAS’s turnaround story is just beginning to heat up.
