British pilots warn on Iberia job cuts

Iberia, the Spanish airline, and British Airways form the International Airlines Group (IAG)and today Iberia announced 4,500 job cuts (including 500 pilot job losses) and a proposed 35% cut in pilots' pay.

Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) said:

'We are dismayed by the sheer scale of the proposed job losses and pay cuts announced today by Iberia. In our view, the proposed measures are highly disproportionate and likely to result in further, deeply damaging industrial disputes in the Spanish flag carrier. It seems that Iberia has spent so much time outsourcing its flying to subsidiary airlines and franchise operators that it is now being forced to turn against its own core operation in Madrid.

'This retrograde approach goes against the key underlying principle of the Iberia-BA merger that was welcomed at the time by the Iberia and BA pilot groups - to achieve the balanced long-term development of the Madrid and London hubs and ensure a reasonable division of opportunities between Iberia and BA. It is particularly disappointing that Iberia is embarking on a new round of cuts when the airline should, in our view, be concentrating first on implementing the substantial short-haul cost-savings identified by the Spanish government arbitrator and accepted by SEPLA, the Spanish pilots' association, and second on exploiting profitable long-haul opportunities in the fast growing economies of Latin America.

'Before the airline becomes embroiled in a further round of unnecessary industrial confrontation, we call on Iberia and IAG management to reconsider their proposals and redouble their efforts to reach an agreement with SEPLA.'