The filing comes as the summer travel season begins in Europe.

On Monday, during ongoing talks between Scandinavian airline service SAS and its pilots over their wages, the pilots left the meeting and staged a strike against the airline. SAS was already in a less-than-optimal place due to leftover hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the summer travel season getting underway in Europe, the company desperately needs business to recoup existing losses and expenses.

Scandinavian Airlines has filed for bankruptcy in the United States, warning the announcement of a strike by 1,000 pilots a day earlier had put the future of the carrier at risk. https://t.co/tHU0aJADIh

— ABC News (@ABC) July 5, 2022

As such, not long after the strike began, SAS officially filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy support in the United States in order to aid with its restructuring.

“Through this process, SAS aims to reach agreements with key stakeholders, restructure the company’s debt obligations, reconfigure its aircraft fleet, and emerge with a significant capital injection,” SAS said in a statement.

“It doesn’t mean anything for the normal operations. They are trying to repair the motor while driving,” Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said in a statement to Reuters. “This is happening because SAS hasn’t been able to accomplish the changes through negotiations.”

SAS became one of the first casualties during a chaotic recovery in air travel. The Scandinavian airline has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S., saying a move by about 1,000 of its pilots to go on strike would worsen its already fraught finances. https://t.co/UZOPzDQ4d6

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 5, 2022

One of the major contributing factors to the low pilot wages is a lack of investors in the company, which SAS is hoping to remedy alongside its restructuring. It is hoping to remedy the strike as well, as it “has a negative impact on the liquidity and financial position of the company and, if prolonged, such impact could become material.”