Pilots thwart Iberia Express fleet expansion plan

The pilots have said no to Grupo Iberia’s plan to add eight planes to the fleet, six of which will go to Iberia Express. Despite initial goodwill from the UPPA and Sepla unions, they have ultimately decided not to take it to low-cost assembly, at least under the terms currently on offer (Iberia is negotiating with the pilots to speed up Express).

According to Cinco Diaz, the biggest loser from this withdrawal will be low cost, as the company will no longer include six units, which will reduce the growth forecast for the coming years. In contrast, according to sources in the negotiations, Iberia will gain more, as it will add four planes instead of two.

The Iberia idea continues to temporarily lift the restrictions included in the agreement signed in 2014. It stipulates that Iberia Express can only expand in the same proportion as Iberia, in addition to limiting its capacity to 15% of the total number of seats used for it.

This was a key step to date in securing the jobs of pilots who feared that the creation of Express could jeopardize their employment status. However, the company asked pilots to opt out of their current agreement to be able to carry out the fleet expansion, which was ultimately rejected.

In announcing the idea, Iberia said it would bring several benefits to its employees in terms of career advancement. For example, an increase in releases, i.e. moving from co-pilot to captain; the possibility of entering technical and administrative positions; and that Iberia employees could extend their stay at the subsidiary by adding flying hours to their main one.