Air Europa pilots in Spain announce two-week strike from June 19

Pilots at Spain’s beleaguered airline Air Europa will go on strike between June 19 and July 2 following a breakdown in salary negotiations, the country’s main pilots union SEPLA said in a statement late on Thursday.

Pilots said the company reneged on a pre-agreement reached on June 8 and did not meet salary and working condition demands. Air Europa’s salary proposals for pilots were equivalent to those at a low-cost airline, the union said in the statement.

A spokesperson at Air Europa said the company was open to keep negotiating.

Spain forces airlines and pilots to maintain a minimum number of flights during strikes, resulting in fewer restrictions compared to other countries.

British Airways and Iberia owner International Airlines Group (LON:ICAG) in February agreed to buy the remaining 80% of Air Europa it did not already own from Spain’s Globalia for 400 million euros ($438 million).

The deal still needs regulatory approval from Brussels and a first attempt to buy the airline in 2021 failed after it was rejected by regulators on concerns about a lack of competition on Latin American routes.

The airline, which was bailed out by the government in 2020 with a 475 million-euro loan, will maintain its brand but will be managed by Iberia.