Norwegian Air Shuttle (Essay Sample)

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Norwegian Air shuttles grounded
On March 4 2015, many passengers in Norway, Sweden and Denmark woke up to a rude shock; Norwegian Air was not in service. An intense strike by pilots paralyzed all the activities of the Airline in three countries. Approximately 35, 000 passengers were stranded because of the stalemate that existed between the Airline and the Federation of Norwegian Aviation. The stalemate between the Union and the Airline was characterized by poor negotiation skills that were exemplified by claims of poor communication networks and an inadequate working environment.
Experts contend that the work environment can greatly influence the way employees feel about their jobs. A positive work environment has the ability to make the employer feel good about working in a certain organization; this is because a good work environment provides motivation to sustain the employees. Molesworth (2003) posits that, every organization should embrace open communication to address what the employee feels CITATION Hel03 \p 36 \l 1033 (Molesworth 36). Through open communication work becomes meaningful because the employees are able to contribute positively to their organizations. The Airline was not prepared for the crisis; Schoenberg (2005) contends that every organization should be adequately prepared for a crisis CITATION ASc05 \p 4 \l 1033 (Schoenberg 4)
The Norwegian pilot walkout began on February 28; it was called by the Norwegian Pilot Union after unsuccessful talks with the Federation of the Norwegian Aviation. The controversy surrounding this case was more than the wages CITATION Nor15 \p "par 1" \l 1033 (NordicPage par 1). The Union cited poor working conditions in Norway, Denmark and Sweden; it claimed that, the poor conditions were as a result of the Airline attempts to cut costs. The airline cut costs in the Pilots pensions and costly insurance, the pilots demanded for a new collective agreement CITATION Nor15 \l 1033 (NordicPage). In its defense, the Norwegian Air claimed that essential cost reductions were significant in ensuring that the company was sustainable and that it secured Jobs. In a statement released to the press, the company said "the union did not meet these criteria" CITATION Nor15 \p "par 3" \l 1033 (NordicPage par 3).
The event resulted in unexpected circumstances, with the most obvious being the decline of the company stock, this came at a time when the Norway Airline was pursuing one of the most ambitious aviation growth plans CITATION Nor15 \p "par 4" ...