Iberia Airlines existence threatened with spate of pilots’ strikes

Iberia Airlines flights had to be grounded several times this year after pilots resorted to fresh round of strikes.

Spanish carrier Iberia Airlines recently said in a statement that the company’s future is at stake now. The airline sternly warned that a fresh round of strikes by its pilots to protest the creation of a low-cost carrier could threaten the company’s future itself.

Iberia pilots after having failed to reach a settlement with the airline are determinedly going ahead with their 30 planned one-day strikes over a period of time this year.

Iberia Airlines flights had to be grounded 12 times between December 2011 and March 2012. The airline has estimated the cost of each strike day at $3.9 million (3 million Euros).

The airline said that the pilots’ abusive strike, low productivity and high labor costs are the factors threatening the future of Iberia Airlines.

The airline stated that the productivity of its pilots was the lowest in Spain with an average 650 hours of annual flying time as compared with the 900 hour mandated by legislation and the more than 800 average hours of short-haul companies with which Iberia Airlines competes.