Finnair Oyj - Company Announcement

FINNAIR CONSIDERS STRUCTURAL CHANGES

FINNAIR PLC         STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE       30.11.2010 at 1.30 pm
Finnair is preparing structural changes due to the rapidly and strongly
changing competitive environment. The changes being planned relate to both jobs
and the company's structures. With Finnair's current structures, it is
impossible to build a viable future in a tightening competitive climate. "We are assessing all of our company's structures as well as the activities
that we can profitably perform within the company in future, and also the
extent to which possible partners could perform activites more efficiently on
our behalf. We must also assess the extent to which our work will be performed
in future in Finland or whether it would be more cost-effective to carry out
some of the work in locations with a lower cost level. "We are now considering ways in which we can build our European feeder traffic
competitively, making better use of our partner network and possible new
production structures. "At the same time, we are also examining the distribution of work to enable our
personnel to perform their work better. We will change the workload associated
with long-haul flights. By limiting participation in time-difference flights,
we can reduce the load on personnel," says Finnair's President & CEO Mika
Vehviläinen. 
Negotiations and mediation relating to the employment terms and conditions of
Finnair's cabin staff ended early this morning. During the process, no
significant progress was achieved. The National Conciliator did not make a
settlement proposal, so a strike of cabin staff began today at 13.00. "This negotiation process has been frustrating and we are unsure as to the
motives guiding the employees' representatives in this process. It is tragic
that parties are striving to hold on to old terms and conditions in an industry
that is changing dramatically and irrevocably. The actions of the
representatives of our personnel are endangering jobs in Finnair. This is a
pity, because that our personnel do excellent work and, for example, service on
our flights is recognised as being top class. We cannot, however, operate under
terms and conditions that jeopardise our competitiveness and jobs," says
Vehviläinen. "We have come to the point where we have to consider throughout our Group which
activities are worth performing ourselves and what work could be done better
and more competitively outside the company. This review will cover all of our
operations," says Vehviläinen. 
This morning, Finnair issued a profit warning, which estimated that the strike
will turn the full-year operational result into a loss. 
Finnair Plc 
Communications

Taneli Hassinen
Vice President, Financial Communications and Investor Relations 
tel. +358 9 818 4976