Taking Sisu To New Heights

Sisu is a Finnish word and state of mind that translates into pushing through extreme challenges and obstacles in any situation, even when facing seemingly insurmountable odds. Finns are known for standing up to logic defying odds throughout their history, think of them as the Spartans of the Arctic Circle. There's plenty of examples of Finns rising up and defying the odds, such as one of my favorite historical figures, Simo Häyhä. Take the time and read up on him.

But let's face it, 2025 has been an incredibly frustrating and difficult year for the global airline industry. Airlines in every part of the globe are having their own headaches, trials, and tribulations. Some deservedly, some not. From major weather disruptions, industrial actions, passenger revolts, soured labor relations, third party outsourcing gone wrong, supply chain issues, or airframe/engine reliability problems, it's a wild hurricane of negativity impacting operations, stock prices, public relations teams, maintenance teams, and boardrooms worldwide. Now the public has taken notice, and made their voices heard. Some rightfully correct, some not exactly the fault of the carriers.

One airline that has received so much backlash and furor to the point it was voted as Europe's Worst Airline for 2025 was Finnair, the Flag Carrier for Finland, based out of Helsinki/Vantaa Airport. I'm specifically singling Finnair out because a LOT of their problems were not exactly their fault, but they are not completely innocent. As with anything, there is room for massive improvement. But to lump them as the absolute worst airline in Europe? I think that's stretching it a bit too far. Especially when you have airlines like HiFly, CarpatAir, and SkyUp who really do deserve such honors.

Let's get down to brass tacks though, and take it one issue at a time as per the "award"

Numerous Flight Cancellations: 

In the 2nd quarter of 2025, Finnair cancelled over 1,300 flights, due to an ongoing dispute with the Finnish Aviation Union that represents the airline's ground staff at all Finavia run airports. They've been dragged back to the negotiating table for six months all due to the union wanting phased salary increases, updated shift arrangements aimed at improving the work-life balance, better support for part-time and fixed-time staff, and other initiatives focusing on mental wellbeing and workplace inclusivity.

I completely understand and support the phased salary increases, better support for part-timers and fixed-timers, but as far as improving work-life balances, well, that's kind of up to the individual employee, isn't it? Human beings are not cookie cut automatons with the same values, beliefs, or ways of striking a balance between their lives and their work. For instance, when I was a workaday grunt for the airlines and travel agencies I worked at, I spent as much time as I legally could working because if I'm gunna hang out at the airport, I might as well be getting paid for it (I hung out at airports in my off time watching planes come and go, try it sometime, it’s fun, and therapeutic). That was my work-life balance, and it suited me for decades. The guys I worked with all had different balances, and they figured theirs out. You can do the same, you're Finns, you are not lazy, coddled, or born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

What I don't agree with are the parts about mental wellbeing initiatives and workplace inclusivity. I'm not trying to sound callous here, but I'm sure some of y'all will think I am. Mental wellbeing initiatives at Finnair are pretty much on par with other major flag carriers in Europe. There are resources for employees to go to or folks to talk to. Workplace inclusivity. Hmm, you're there to do your job. Clock in, do it, go home. Airside at Vantaa is no place to find pineapple decals or rainbow flags. Do it on your own time.

Another part that was hotly argued over during those 6 months was to introduce enhanced training opportunities and career development platforms. I completely agree with this. You just don’t find mentors anymore, and it's a sad and harsh reality of the world we live in now. Any opportunity for a ramper or gate agent to move up or laterally should be attainable. It's sad to think my generation was the last to have real life day to day mentors working side by side with us, as I had at a couple of airlines. Without them I would've never reached the heights I did.

Direct losses from this prolonged action were estimated around €51 million, while the total impact on the annual revenue will be closer in the neighborhood of €100 million, a nasty blow to the bottom line to a carrier of only 80 aircraft and 5,200 employees.

Customer Complaints:

Let's face it. Finnair is an airline. A flag-carrying network airline. It's 102 years old. Customers have and will continue to complain until the Second Coming of Christ. That's just the nature of the beast when you're dealing with the public at large. It happens at every corporation large and small all around the world. Some companies deal with it better than others.

Normally, Finnair has been top notch at dealing with complaints and customer feedback. Before this year the complaints were usually about normal flight by flight things such as cost-cutting measures, reductions of in-flight offerings, degrading quality of existing offerings, lack of space onboard, luggage being lost or damaged, etc. Now those everyday complaints have turned more into unresolved credits or refunds, missed connections, unresponsive customer service, or worse, having a form email sent out by AI that does not address the passenger's issue at all.

I recently spoke to several acquaintances I have over at Finnair who are dealing with the complaints day in and day out, and they tell me it has never been this bad, but for some reason middle and upper management, despite what they are saying in public, have taken their eyes off the primary focus of Finnair, which is running the airline itself. They are so busy focusing on external and non-essential PR issues like the new Sauna at Helsinki Airport, Pride Month, what to knit onboard your flight, focusing on employees running the @feelfinnair social media pages a couple times a week are seemingly far more important than focusing on the core of the company, that is getting passengers from point A to point B in relatively decent time, with their luggage as promised, and if there are disruptions and cancellations, to deal with those effectively and as fast as possible. They also said it has gotten so bad trying to get through to Finnair, or even to get a chat response, that scammers are surfing all of the airline's social media and trying to scam off the affected passengers, and saying management isn't doing anything about that, either.

Now, I have worked in Customer Care before both regular customers and the frequent flyers with oodles of status. Let me tell you, when something goes down and the problems get piled up and cascade into day after day after day, it gets exhausting. I completely understand why Finnair's seeing these 5 hour or longer wait times for problems that have been festering for months on end. At one point during the industrial actions, the carrier was telling people handling times of refunds or missed connections can run between 2-4 days all the way up to 10 weeks. I think now that the ground staff have stopped threatening more action, hiring a squad of part-time folks to specifically deal with the backlog would be wise for the beleaguered airline.

The Travel Genius Opinion

These problems could not have come at a worse time for Finnair. Throughout its existence, Finnair was known and praised for being one of the most punctual airlines in the world, replete Nordic reliability and ingenuity. Now, mainly because of labor's actions, Finnair is on the ropes and the odds against it are staggering. Demand for travel is at an all-time high, competition is intensifying daily. It's time for Turkka Kuusisto and the rest of the airline to dig deep and summon the sisu, and get the airline back on its feet.

I have flown Finnair enough to gauge what the airline is really like in live action, and I have also participated in a work exchange with them and my former airline in 2023. I have flown them Internationally, Domestically, and Intra-EU. Out of all the European legacy carriers, they are by far my favorite, in any class of service. When I had issues with a reservation, they were on top of it and took care of faster and more transparent than any airline I've ever had to deal with. It's long-haul Business Class, while controversial when it was unveiled, has turned into a perfect way to cross the Atlantic, or make your way to Asia from that beautiful hub in Helsinki, where connection times are a true joy at 35 minutes minimum for International to International flights. Economy Class is relatively the same the world over, however, on Finnair, it seems to be just a bit more roomier. The crews I have engaged with were all typical Finns, with a twist of avgeek and a sense of wanderlust thrown in for good measure, and exemplify what the airline truly stands for on the ground and inflight. Oh, and let's not get into it with the blueberry juice. You can drink liters of that stuff and they'll keep pumping you with more of it, it is THAT good (don't worry, you won't turn into a real-life Violet Beuaregarde needing the Oompa Loompas to de-juice you).

Once the sisu is unfurled, Finnair will be right back at the top of the listings and winning awards for being the best in Europe, and this chapter will eventually turn into just another footnote in the carrier's second hundred years.