SAS – Scandinavian Airlines exited US Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in August and restructured debt of over $2 billion.

At World Aviation Festival, Anko van der Werff, President & CEO at SAS spoke about the airline’s post-Chapter 11 business transformation, investment in digital technology to create industry-leading customer experience, and the recent transition to SkyTeam.

On the business transformation Van der Werff pointed to three key pillars: the alliance shift, operational realignment, and customer experience.

Speaking about the decision to transition from Star Alliance to SkyTeam, he explained the after restructuring Air France-KLM became a 19.9 per cent owner of SAS and so aligning with the Air France-KLM was a priority. Offering more insight into the rapid transition, he added:

“We changed on the 1st September. Hats off to both teams—the SAS team but also all the SkyTeam teams. Typically, it takes 18 to 24 months before an airline is really solidly in a new alliance and we took seven months. It was incredible, to be honest. I was very nervous the week before going in because you really don’t know what kind of IT mishaps there could be, and there wasn’t any. So it’s been fantastic.”

For more insight into the digital transformation underpinning the airline’s exception customer experience and more, watch the full interview now.

Questions asked:

  1. Can you highlight the key strategic priorities in your business transformation following your emergence from Chapter 11. How SAS is positioning itself for the years ahead?​
  2. You’ve previously mentioned your goal for SAS to become a leader in customer experience, how will your plans to invest in the airline’s digital transformation support this?
  3. You recently made the big transition from Star Alliance to SkyTeam, how does this align with your long-term strategy and vision?​

 

 

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