EasyJet Spain cabin crews call nine days of strikes for July

EasyJet Plc’s Spain-based cabin crews are planning nine days of strikes in July, potentially piling on the pain for holidaymakers as European airports grapple with labor protests and shortages. 

Walkouts are planned for July 1-3, 15-17 and 29-31 with as many as 450 staff at Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca airports set to take part in the stoppages, USO union said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

EasyJet’s Spanish cabin-crew workers plan to strike because progress on talks on pay and terms with the airline has ground to a halt, the union said. USO wants pay for the carrier’s Spanish staff to match that of employees in countries such as France or Germany. 

Hubs in several European countries have been suffering from labor shortages and stoppages, forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of scheduled flights. 

The strikes by the airline’s Spanish crews comes after colleagues at Ryanair also announced six days of protests. Crews at the Irish carrier are also planning walk-outs in other European countries, including Italy, France and Portugal.

EasyJet is “extremely disappointed with this action” because considerable progress toward sealing a labor accord had been made, the carrier said in a statement, saying it wanted “constructive dialogue” to continue. The airliner “plans to operate its full schedule and we would like to reassure customers that we will do everything possible to minimise any disruption.”

Hamper Recovery

The planned Spanish protests may hamper efforts to restore summer tourism activity to levels seen in 2019 before the pandemic.

The strikes “add another layer of uncertainty to an already complicated economic situation, potentially hitting an industry, tourism, that was supposed to be one of the key drivers of Spain’s economic growth” for 2022, said Maria Jesus Valdemoros, a lecturer in economics at IESE Business School.

The airline stoppages are playing out against a background of growing malaise about pay levels amid soaring consumer prices, said Gayle Allard, an associate professor of economics at IE Business School.

“Companies are going to have to understand that there’ll be pressure to improve pay and conditions in a tight labor market with high inflation,” said Allard. “The pendulum is swinging.”