Iberia ground staff crisis ends after company reaches agreement with unions

Iberia and the unions have reached an agreement to create a new handling company that will include all employees, along with a voluntary severance plan for 1,727 workers by 2026, the company said. 

After weeks of negotiations, the Spanish airline will create a new handling subsidiary that will be 100% owned by IAG, Iberia's parent company.    

This company will include all airport employees, who will maintain their current working conditions.

However, the agreement between Iberia and the unions also includes the reduction of 1,727 jobs by 2026 through voluntary redundancies and early retirement.

"This is a responsible agreement that benefits us all, and hand in hand with the workers, we are taking a historic step forward in the ground staff sector in Spain," said Iberia President Fernando Candela.

The agreement comes after weeks of negotiations between Iberia and the unions. On Thursday, Iberia warned that if no agreement was reached by Friday on ground staff at Bilbao, Malaga and Alicante airports, the workers would be transferred to the companies that won the contracts for those three facilities, a situation avoided by this agreement.