Air Nostrum pilots in Spain announce indefinite strike action hitting flights every day

The recent two-days-a-week industrial action will be stepped up as pay negotiations with the airline's management have broken down, according to the Sepla union

Europa Press

Madrid

Monday, 5 June 2023 | Updated 07/06/2023 11:27h.

Pilots at Air Nostrum, the Iberia-franchised airline for regional flights in Spain, will go on an indefinite daily strike from Tuesday, 6 June, over a long-running pay dispute.

Spanish airline pilots union (Sepla) announced that the strike has been extended to every day of the week, instead of the two days a week - Monday and Friday - which they had been taking industrial action on since February.

The airline has reportedly offered a wage increase of 13% over the next three years and a 10% raise for captain. "These figures are in the upper band of what is being negotiated in most collective agreements in the country, and exceed what was recently approved by the unions and employers," Air Nostrum said.

The carrier also said the wage increase proposed by Sepla "would jeopardise the present and future viability of the airline" and that the company "cannot fail to comply with the ICO credit payment plan and the repayment of the loan to SEPI". The airline received an equity loan of 111 million from SEPI due to the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which was added to other loans of 140 million to the ICO.

Sepla said the airline's "refusal to budge" in the negotiations of the collective agreement "has pushed it to take this difficult step". In a statement, it claimed that "the management has refused to seek a solution to the labour dispute, rejecting the legitimate labour and wage demands of workers" for the past seven months.

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