Tag Archives: Estonian Airlines

Estonian Air and its pilots agree to a new contract, adverting a strike

Estonian Air (Tallinn) is moving ahead with its restructuring plan. The airline and its pilots have agreed to a new Collective Agreement. The pilots were threatening to strike the company yesterday and the negotiations and now a new contract adverted the strike. However the flag carrier faces major challenges for survival.

The struggling carrier has not made any money since 2006. The airline is downsizing and will rally around a fleet of just Bombardier CRJ900s for the next summer season operating on its most profitable routes.

The airline issued the following statement:

Estonian Air and Estonian Pilots Trade Association (ELA) signed a Collective Agreement which has been confirmed by the Supervisory Board of Estonian Air which had its regular meeting today. The Collective Agreement is valid up till January 31, 2014.

“The company has signed the Collective Agreement with ELA and from now on the management can carry on the implementation of Estonian Air restructuring,” commented Erkki Raasuke, the Chairman of Estonian Air Supervisory Council.

“After signing the Agreement, Estonian Air is able to focus on its daily operations on passenger servicing,” said Jan Palmér, the CEO of Estonian Air. “Today we can assure to our customers that all Estonian Air flights are operated according to the schedule.“

According to Rauno Menning, the Chairman of the Pilots Trade Association, an agreement has been achieved regarding rest and duty times. “The Collective Agreement will ensure the industrial peace inside the company,” added Menning.

The Collective Agreement is regulating duty and rest time, working conditions and relations between the airline and the Trade Union.

The provisions of the new Collective Agreement signed by the Pilots Trade Association are extended to all pilots of Estonian Air. The Pilots Trade Association is uniting approximately 80 pilots, out of which 70 are working at Estonian Air.
On 13 December 2012, Estonian Air signed a Collective Agreement with Estonian Air Cabin Crew Union which is valid up till the end of 2013. The Estonian Air Cabin Crew Union is uniting approximately 80 crew members.

Read the analysis by Bloomberg: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren. The aircraft of the future Estonian Air fleet will now only be the pictured CRJ900 according to Airline Route. The new Embraer E-Jets will apparently be phased out, following the same exit as the Boeings. CRJ900 (CL-600-2D24) ES-ACB (msn 15261) touches down at Stockholm (Arlanda).

Estonian Air:

Estonian Air introduces a new “Fly to Estonia” logoplane, will retire the last Boeing 737-500 on October 21

Estonian Air (Tallinn) has repainted its SAAB 340B ES-ASO (msn 223) from the “Hockeybird” to a special “Fly to Estonia” livery to promote winter travel to the country. The first flight from Tallinn in the new design was completed on October 11 and the special livery will stay until the end of this year.

The aircraft will operate from Tallinn to Vilnius, Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, St Petersburg and Tartu.

The airline issued the following statement:

In the framework of an ongoing co-operation between Estonian Air and EAS (Enterprise Estonia), one of the SAAB 340 aircraft in Estonian Air fleet was given a special livery to attract tourists from the regional destinations of Estonian Air to spend winter holidays in Estonia. This is a continuation of the marketing campaign carried out in October in Lithuania, Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway, promoting the possibilities of spending winter holidays in Estonia.

“EAS and Estonian Air have common goals – to be visible on world map, bring a lot of foreign tourists to Estonia and do so in a special way. This beautiful aircraft design is a good example of co-operation between domestic organisations,” says Marketing Director of the Estonian Tourist Board at Enterprise Estonia, Tarmo Mutso.

“Research shows that aircraft is the advertising channel with the highest level of message recall, i.e. people recall afterwards not only the medium of the advertisement but even the message itself”, explains Gunnar Mägi, head of marketing and development in Estonian Air. “Since European airports enjoy a very high concentration of people, I am confident that our invitation will not go unnoticed”, he added.

In other news, the company will retire the last Boeing 737-500 on October 21 when the assigned aircraft completes a round trip between Tallinn and Paris (CDG) per Airline Route.

Top Copyright Photo: Estonian Air.

Estonian Air:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Boeing 737-53S ES-ABH 9msn 29074) climbs away from Southend.

Estonian Air launches a new route to Georgia

Estonian Air (Estonian Airlines) (Tallinn) yesterday (April 8) launched a new route from its Tallinn base to Tbilisi, Georgia. The new route will be operated four days a week with Bombardier CRJ900s.

Estonian Air Slide Show: CLICK HERE