OSLO: Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle has given pilots on strike for a sixth day on Thursday a deadline to return to the negotiating table, saying the situation was a "state of emergency".
The 650 pilots on strike want a collective labour agreement with the parent group, instead of the current deal with its local subsidiary, and for uniform terms across the Nordic region. The company has rejected both demands.
Norwegian Air held new talks with the pilots early on Thursday but said no solution was found. It set a deadline of 1400 GMT for the union to resume talks.
"Enough is enough ... the union has been given a final opportunity to immediately come to the negotiating table," Norwegian said in a statement.
The company declined to say what it would do next if the pilots ignored the deadline. "We may say more about that later today though," spokeswoman Anne-Sissel Skaanvik told Reuters.
The strike, which is affecting about 35,000 passengers a day, pits unions trying to defend workers' rights against a company aiming to cut costs and expand rapidly internationally.
Europe's third biggest budget carrier has set up operations in Spain, Britain and Poland, among other countries, and a long-haul unit to fly to Thailand and the United States.
It now reaches 130 destinations.
To be competitive outside its traditional Scandinavian base, Norwegian Air says it must cut costs and have flexibility on working hours and other conditions.
"It is a question of whether you want or don't want to give the employees more influence, and (CEO) Bjoern Kjos is a clever man. He has seen that the airlines which are doing well in Europe are also the ones that keep the employees from gaining influence," Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said.
The strike has led to a sales decline in March, especially on domestic routes within Scandinavia, the company said.
"2015 got off to a good start until the pilot strike hit us, which has influenced our traffic figures. The situation is deeply regrettable," Kjos said.
Total passenger traffic (RPK) rose 17 percent in February.
The airline's yield, or average revenue per passenger carried and kilometre flown, fell 3 percent year-on-year in February, but was flat compared with January.
After the February data, the company's shares traded five percent higher outperforming the Oslo benchmark stock index which was up 1.2 percent.
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