COPENHAGEN >> Cabin crew at Scandinavian airline SAS in Norway went on strike on Friday to press demands for better salaries and working conditions after wage talks broke down overnight, disrupting some flights, labour unions and the carrier said.

About 120 SAS employees went on strike initially and the number is expected to grow in the coming days when more staff members are scheduled to join the picket line, the two labour unions involved in the talks said.

An SAS statement said that a limited number of flights were affected, adding that the impact on the group’s ongoing restructuring process was not yet clear.

“Our priority right now is to minimise disruptions to our traffic programme and support our customers with rebookings and information,” the airline said.

Norway’s government-appointed wage mediator said he had been unable to bridge the divide between the two sides.

“There was no solution that could be expected to be recommended by both parties,” mediator Mats Wilhelm Ruland said in a statement.

The Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions represented 640 cabin crew members at SAS Norway while Parat, part of the Confederation of Vocational Unions, said it negotiated on behalf of a further 240, all of whom may yet join the strike.

The conflict did not involve any SAS pilots or the airline’s flight attendants employed in Sweden or Denmark, but a strike could still cause disruption beyond Norway because crews are used across borders.

While details of demands at the negotiations remain confidential by law, union leaders have said that SAS cabin crew members are paid 15-30% less than counterparts at rival carriers such as Norwegian Air.

“SAS was unwilling to meet any of our demands, leaving us with no other option than to go on strike,” said Martinus Roekkum, head of the SAS Norway cabin association at Parat.

In 2022 a 15-day strike by SAS pilots grounded 3,700 flights.

SAS filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on the second day of that strike after years of struggling with high costs and low demand, leading eventually to a court-approved takeover plan by hedge fund Castlelake, airline Air France-KLM, investment manager Lind Invest and the Danish state.

“The company is in the final stretches of its reconstruction process and the effect of this strike has to be analysed,” SAS said.