Air Europa pilots begin their second round of strike. The Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (Sepla) has called an eight-day strike, in protest at the blockade in the negotiation of the V Collective Agreement.
Sepla justifies the strike due to the “tension and labor conflict generated by the directors of Air Europa” in the negotiation of the agreement, which also failed with the mediation of the Interconfederal Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA).
From the union they accuse the company of offering a proposal that supposes a “real loss” of the labor rights of the previous collective agreement, according to statements collected by Europa Press. The pilots feel “discriminated against by the company” as they are the only group “affected by this way of acting by the company” and they refuse to give in because this “would be irresponsible with the professional and personal future of the group of pilots”.
On May 18, Sepla denounced before the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) “the serious episode experienced during the meeting of the strike committee held on May 16, in which Air Europa refused to let the union could express itself and send to the Ministry of Transport a detailed report on the airline’s national and international flights and the alternatives that passengers have to them so that the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) can define, with further analysis, the application of the minimum services”.
Given the latest disagreements in the negotiation, the pilots’ collective continues with the call for the strike approved in the assembly held last February. In this way, after the strikes that took place on May 1, 2, 4 and 6 and which resulted in 68 canceled flights, these are the new Air Europa strike days called:
The second round of strike by Air Europa pilots will cause the cancellation of 114 flights. Already on the first day of this Monday, May 22, the company has removed 14 flights from its schedule.
The stoppages affect the national routes that link Madrid with Bilbao, La Coruña, Palma de Mallorca, Vigo or Malaga, as well as the one that connects Barcelona and Palma. The strike will also have incidents on international flights to Rome (Fiumicino), Milan (Malpensa), Paris-Orly, Porto or Lisbon.
Air Europa offers three alternatives to affected customers:
The Notices section of the Air Europa website provides information on all flights affected by the pilots’ strike for May 22, 23, 25, 26, 29 and 30 and June 1 and 2, 2023, detailing the flight number, origin and destination airport and departure time.
Aena, the company that manages the main Spanish airports, also provides information on the situation and incidents of flights through the Infoflights section of its website, and the customer service telephone number (34) 913 211 000.
On the occasion of the first round of strike at Air Europa, Facua-Consumers in Action recalled some aspects related to compensation in the event of flight cancellations:
1. Article 7 of European Regulation 261/2004: “Passengers will receive compensation in the amount of 250 euros for flights of up to 1,500 kilometers, 400 euros for intra-community flights of more than 1,500 kilometers and for all others between 1,500 and 3,500, and 600 euros for the rest of the flights”.
2. “The companies could reduce these compensations by 50% in the event that they offer alternative transportation to the passenger with a difference in arrival time with respect to the initial flight that is not more than two hours, for all flights of 1,500 kilometers or less, not exceeding three hours, for all intra-community flights of more than 1,500 kilometers and for all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometers or not exceeding four hours for all other flights” .
3. FACUA also reminds the airlines that a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of April 2018 determined that a workers’ strike is not considered within the concept of “extraordinary circumstances” -which exempts them from delivering the amounts- Therefore, the company cannot refuse the compensation that is required of it.
4. Those affected by possible cancellations will always have the right to a full refund of the ticket “within seven days”, or alternative transportation to the final destination (article 8 of Regulation 261/2004).
5. Possibility of claiming any other type of damage as a consequence of the cancellation: hotels, organized trips, connecting flights and even moral damages (for having lost your vacation or part of it, among other possible cases).
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