Iberia Airline ,the Spanish passenger carrier has left hundreds of their passengers stranded because of strike action.There were 400 flights cancelled over two days due to cabin crew strikes..The strikes were called in protest against “repeated failure by the company to reach a new collective agreement”.The cabin staff have seen their salaries frozen for the last four years.
On the first day 200 of the 1000 flights were cancelled causing a great deal of chaos and confusion at airports such as Malaga.Madrid’s Barajas airport at terminal 4 was the worst affected with many domestic internal flights to Valencia and Andalucia cancelled.Flights to London,Lisbon,Brussels and Frankfurt were also affected.Iberia has asked that the unions reconsider their request for a 4% pay rise .There is a world wide recession and these are very difficult times for the airline industry,consequently they are asking them to reconsider.
Connecting flights to the Canary Islands and the Balearics were not affected and most long haul flights were spared the inconvenience.Sadly many needed the domestic flight to access their lang haul flight.The company is trying to address these issues with their clients.If there is no agreement between workers and the company then there will be another two day strike on November 10 and 11.
Consumer protection organisation FACUA has suggested that clients affected by the strikes should seek compensation and not simply accept refunds.
