Spanish job and pay cuts

Iberia, the Spanish airline, which in 2011 merged with British Airways to form a new company IAG, is planning job and pay cuts.

On 9 November, the firm announced that it wanted to cut 4,500 jobs of out of around 20,000 “to save Iberia after record losses and return it to profitability”. It is also looking for wage cuts.

In negotiations with the pilots’ union SEPLA it has proposed that the pay on domestic and European routes should be cut to the level of the low-cost carrier Vueling, which it also owns. This would imply a 47% cut in pay. The plans have been rejected by the unions, who say it is equivalent to “the dismantling of the company”.