Summer strike by pilots of Spain’s second largest airline

IT has been announced on Friday, July 15, by pilots union Sepla, that Air Europa, Spain’s second largest airline which flies from Spain to many parts of Europe and the rest of the world, will be operating a skeleton service between July 30 and August 2 as the bulk of their pilot members will be on strike.

Spanish law requires that a minimum service is maintained at all times, but pilots will only undertake the bare minimum of flights to stay legal, thus disrupting business and holiday travellers at one of the busiest times of the year.

Their grievances concern the way they are being treated by the company, the introduction of a low-price Air Europa Express service, to which some of the existing Air Europa aircraft will be transferred, and also the outsourcing of a number of flights to the Aernova airline.

According to the union, the airline is now recruiting staff from outside of the existing operation without involving any representation from the union, which means that current pilots will have avenues for promotion blocked, and salary scales for the new pilots may be below those agreed with Air Europa pilots.