Norwegian pilots to return to work after deal reached with budget airline

Hundreds of pilots flying for Norwegian Air Shuttle have called off an 11-day strike that affected about 200,000 passengers after reaching a deal Tuesday with the budget airline.

The strike grounded Norwegian's flights inside Scandinavia where it is a fierce competitor of tri-nation carrier Scandinavian Airlines.

The pilots, who are employed by a subsidiary of Norwegian, demanded closer ties to the parent company in order to safeguard working conditions and job security.

Union and company officials said they reached an agreement Tuesday evening after several previous attempts failed. Under the deal the pilots got a three-year employment guarantee, while agreeing to changes in insurance programs and more flexible working hours.

Norwegian, Europe's third largest budget airline, posted a loss of 1.05 billion kroner ($130 million) last year.