PILOTS OF SPANISH flag carrier Iberia are protesting that the restructuring plan agreed with the airline in 1994 is not being carried out, and are refusing to go along with further measures to cut costs.
The pressure comes as the European Commission (EC) is due to decide before the end of September on whether or not it will allow a fresh injection of Government money for the airline, amounting to Ptas130 billion ($1.04 billion). Iberia has around Ptas200 billion of debt, and interest payments are running at Ptas2billion a month.
Pilots' union SEPLA says that it may strike if the agreement reached with the management last December is not upheld. It says that the negotiations with Brussels were "...badly handled", resulting in a two-month delay in the EC decision. "This has wiped out the sacrifices we made on our salaries, which was one of the main elements of the plan," it says.
EC approval of the Government money is vital to the restructuring effort, but there have been major objections from other airlines over the previous cash injection, of Ptas120 billion, which came in 1992 with a Spanish Government promise that it would be the last. Sources believe that the EC is preparing to allow only 40% of the amount demanded, and even then only with tough conditions.
Source: Flight International
