Finnair (AY, Helsinki Vantaa) has reduced the number of flights it operates under a long-term wet-lease contract with Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith), blaming the industrial action of its pilots' labour union for the development. The Finnish airline is currently only able to operate a single A330-300 on behalf of the Australian airline instead of two.

Finnair said that due to the lack of agreement with the Finnair Pilots’ Union, it will furlough 36 pilots. The Finnish flag carrier confirmed that furloughs will start by the end of September 2025 and are expected to last at least until May 2026.

"Unfortunately, the pilots' industrial actions have affected our ability to operate our wet-lease operations with the reliability that is needed, resulting in changes in our collaboration and consequently, the need to furlough some of our pilots. The situation is unfortunate for all parties," COO Jaakko Schildt said in a statement.

The rift between Finnair and its employees started in December 2024, with pilots expressing dissatisfaction with standby duties on ACMI operations. Multiple negotiation rounds did not resolve the issue.

Qantas and Finnair announced the wet-lease deal in 2023. The Finnish carrier agreed to provide ACMI capacity to the Australian airline on routes from Sydney Kingsford Smith to Singapore Changi and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi. The flights are de facto extensions of Finnair's existing service from Helsinki Vantaa to the two Asian cities. It allowed crews to seamlessly transfer from flights in Finnair's network to their duties under the Qantas ACMI contract.

Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows that Finnair's aircraft have already stopped operating between Sydney and Singapore, with Qantas' in-house A330-200s currently deployed on the route. Finnair is still operating flights for the Australian airline on the Sydney-Bangkok service.

The dispute with the pilots has also affected the company's finances. In its quarterly report, published on April 29, Finnair revealed that the industrial action had cost it around EUR31 million euros (USD35.3 million) in lost revenues with a EUR22 million (USD25 million) impact on the operating result. Finnair expects the industrial action will further chip away EUR10 million (USD11.4 million) from its revenues in April 2025.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Finnair operates five A319-100s, ten A320-200s, fifteen A321-200s, eight A330-300s, and eighteen A350-900s. Regional subsidiary NoRRA Nordic Regional Airlines operates twelve ATR72-500s and twelve E190s. As previously reported, the airline is planning to renew part of its narrowbody fleet.