Following on from the week long strike earlier in February, Iberia will be on strike again for 5 days, from March the 4th to the 8th inclusive, 2013.
The airline has announced the cancellation of 431 flights as a result of the industrial action. Air Nostrum has announced the cancellation of more than 400 flights, as they rely on Iberia ground staff. Vueling and Iberia Express are also expected to announce disruption to their schedules for the same reason.
The Iberia flights affected are mainly national flights, with only 47% forecast to be operating, whilst long haul will have 85% operating and short haul 62%.
The last week long strike on February 18th caused over 1,000 flights to be cancelled and affected the travel plans of around 70,000 passengers. Iberia claimed to have made alternative travel arrangements for 60,000 of the passengers affected and will be giving refunds to the remaining 10,000.
The strike is in protest about the management’s plans to cut nearly 4,000 jobs and reduce the salaries of the remaining staff in an effort to stem the huge losses that the company is making. Iberia merged with profitable British Airways two years ago and lost over €250 million in the first nine months of 2012 as it struggles to compete with low-cost rivals such as Ryanair.
Unions are planning one further five day strike in March (18th to 22nd) and analysts estimate that if all these strikes were to go ahead, the total cost to Iberia will be in the region of €50 to €100 million.
If you have booked a flight with Iberia during the strike days, Iberia should have been in touch with you, otherwise you can call them (in Spain) on 902 400500 or (in the UK) 0870 609 0500. More information on their website: www.iberia.com.