Given the possibility that force majeure Temporary Lay-off Plans are not extended for the airline sector, Iberia proposes to its unions the negotiation of a Temporary Lay-off Plan for organisational and productive reasons. The airline continues at capacity levels 30-35 percent lower than 2019, mainly due to restrictions on tourism with the United States and Latin America.
The slowdown in the economic recovery, together with the growing uncertainty about whether force majeure Temporary Lay-off Plans will be applied to the airline sector and under what conditions, have motivated Iberia’s decision to start negotiations with its unions on a Temporary Lay-off Plan for organisational and productive reasons.
Due to the slow recovery of both long-haul and connecting flights as well as business trips and the prohibitions, restrictions and quarantines in force even in many countries, Iberia considers it essential that the extension of the force majeure Temporary Lay-off Plan that they are negotiating with the Government and social agents include the airline sector to safeguard the employment of workers in the sector.
In any case, Iberia needs to continue applying adjustment measures and this was reported to its unions last Friday. The airline continues at capacity levels 30-35 lower than those of 2019, mainly due to restrictions on tourism with the United States, Latin America, Japan and China.
This has led Iberia to propose to its unions the intention of starting to negotiate a Temporary Lay-off Plan for organisational and productive reasons, necessary to be able to continue adjusting its resources to real capacity and to protect employment.
The discussions on this Temporary Lay-off Plan would begin without prejudice to the decisions that Iberia may adopt with respect to force majeure Temporary Lay-off Plans, once the result of the negotiation that is being carried out within the Social Dialogue is known.
Force majeure Temporary Lay-off Plans have been a fundamental tool to safeguard employment during the worst aviation crisis, and are currently applied to the entire tourism sector in Spain and are currently being applied to the airline as well.