beria has announced the cancellation of 415 flights in the period February 18th to 22nd, the first in a series of strikes called by the unions representing ground staff and cabin crews to protest against proposed layoffs by the loss-making airline.
The cancelled flights represent 40% of those programmed for the period. It is reported that 90% of long-haul flights will be maintained, as well as 61% of medium-haul international flights and 46% of domestic ones.
International Airlines Group (IAG), the holding company for the merger of British Airways and Iberia, announced on Tuesday that Iberia will lay off 3,807 workers, around 19% of the airline’s workforce. This figure is down from the 4,500 job cuts originally announced as part of a comprehensive restructuring plan unveiled in November of last year.
Iberia will announce the specific flights to be cancelled one day ahead of the strikes for each of the five days and passengers can either change their tickets or ask to be reimbursed.
Strikes have also been called for the periods March 4th to 8th and March 18th to 22nd. The pilots union Sepla has said will join in the March stoppages.
The Ministry of Public Works has set the minimum service levels at 50% of all routes between Spanish cities and overseas destinations, 100% of flights between mainland cities and destinations in the Canary Islands, Balearics and the North African enclave of Melilla.
In addition, the Ministry has also set a minimum service of 50% for flights within Spain where alternative transport involves a trip of over 500 kilometres and a journey time of over five hours, and 25% for flights where the alternative journey time is below this figure.