Iberia has made public the proposal presented to the unions to try to resolve the handling crisis, a conflict that has pending subrogation of more than 3,000 employees of the company’s ground services, most of them in El Prat, and that has left behind four days of strike at Spanish airports. The solution proposed by the airline involves the creation of a handling company 100% owned by IAG that would provide service to all the group’s airlines (Iberia, Vueling, British Airways, Level and Air Lingus). At the same time, it proposes a retirement and incentivized leave plan for 1,727 people. Company sources emphasize that, if these departures occur, new hires would have to be made to replace these workers, “so there is no reduction in the workforce.”
Iberia is thus trying to close a conflict that is eroding its image and for which it had to preventively cancel hundreds of flights in the middle of the Kings. In this way, it considers that a large part of the workers pending subrogation to other handling companies could remain under its umbrella, as requested by the unions, who consider the Iberia agreement to be more advantageous. Union sources point out, however, that the airline wants to extend the new company not only to the airports where it lost its license, but to all the bases in which it operates, which is why they reject this plan.
The origin of the problem is in the result of the Aena handling contest, resolved at the end of last September. As a result of this, Iberia lost the licenses in eight of the busiest airports, including Barcelona, ??Palma de Mallorca and Malaga – only Barajas remains among the large ones.
The airline points out that given that margins are tight in ground services, a large volume is necessary that can only be achieved sustainably by providing services to third-party companies. Iberia Airport Services (the handling subsidiary) employs around 8,000 people. It could also offer services to third parties in passage (service staff at counters), a segment that is liberalized, unlike the ramp segment (baggage management), which is the one that was resolved in the tender. Negotiations with the unions remain open with just two days until the airlines have to choose the handling companies (Aena extended the term by three days).
