Finnair Faces Challenges Amidst Strike Action in February 2024

In the latest financial disclosure, Finnair reported a noticeable setback in its February 2024 performance, attributing the downturn to significant strike action. Despite this, the Finnish national carrier remains optimistic, with certain metrics still indicating year-on-year growth, showcasing the airline's resilience and potential for recovery.

A Leap Year with a Leap in Challenges

February 2024, despite offering an extra day of operations due to the leap year, presented a unique set of challenges for Finnair. The airline experienced a 2.3% decrease in passenger numbers compared to the same month in the previous year, recording a total of 804,700 passengers. This decline occurred in spite of a 3.4% increase in available seat kilometers (ASKs), suggesting that external factors significantly impacted the airline's ability to capitalize on its increased capacity.

The primary culprit for the downturn was identified as a political strike that led to the closure of seven Finnish airports on the first two days of February, resulting in approximately 550 flight cancellations. This industrial action not only disrupted Finnair's operations but also had a cascading effect on its monthly performance indicators.

Impact Across the Board

The strike's influence extended beyond passenger numbers, with Finnair also reporting a slight 0.8% decrease in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) and a 3.1% drop in average load factor, which settled at 72.1%. The impact of the strike was felt unevenly across different markets, with the North Atlantic routes experiencing the lowest load factor at 60.4%, while Middle Eastern flights maintained a healthier load factor of 79.5%.

Domestically, Finnair faced a 4.3% year-on-year decrease in passenger transport within Finland, alongside marginal declines in RPKs and load factor. However, domestic ASKs saw a slight increase of 1%, indicating a continued commitment to maintaining a robust internal network.

Punctuality also took a hit, with on-time performance falling from 79.7% in February 2023 to 75.4% in the reported month. Nonetheless, it wasn't all gloomy, as Finnair experienced a substantial 10.3% increase in cargo tonnage and a 9.8% rise in revenue cargo tonne kilometers, signaling strong performance in its freight operations.

Looking Forward

The early challenges of 2024 have undoubtedly left their mark on Finnair's year-to-date performance, with slight declines in cumulative passenger totals and load factors. Yet, the airline remains hopeful, with several months still ahead to potentially recover and improve upon these early setbacks. Finnair's resilience and strategic responses to these challenges will be key to its performance as the year progresses, offering a hopeful outlook for a strong recovery and continued growth.