With talk of British Airways strike action on the horizon, Spains Iberia Airlines has had to cancel 184 of its flights due to its cabin crews taking part in a two day strike of their own. On top of this, there are set to be a further 184 cancellations if the strike reaches a second day. Only short haul flights will be affected, with long haul journeys continuing as normal.
The strike action is a repeat of the cabin crew walkout earlier in the year in October, and the reason behind it is down to the airline’s plans to freeze wages and put a halt to recruitment plans. Ironically, there is a similar dispute taking place within British Airways, the company that Iberia is currently in talks with for a possible merger.
Iberia is suffering badly in the recession, and as a company it made a loss of 165.4m euros in the first half of 2009. If profits continue to fall at such a rate, the future of the airline will be in doubt, and the airlines managers are resorting to recruitment and wage freezes as part of its survival plan.
Unions had previously met with the airline to discuss the proposed measures but no agreement could be reached in time. The cost-cutting plans have been forecast to save the company 37m euros by 2012.