Vueling cancels 54 flights due to the crew strike that starts tomorrow, Tuesday

The airline Vueling has preventively canceled 54 flights scheduled for this Tuesday due to the cabin crew strike called in Spain by the Stavla union.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
31 October 2022 Monday 11:41
6 Reads
Vueling cancels 54 flights due to the crew strike that starts tomorrow, Tuesday

The airline Vueling has preventively canceled 54 flights scheduled for this Tuesday due to the cabin crew strike called in Spain by the Stavla union. The stoppages begin tomorrow and will take place every Friday, Sunday and Monday until January 31, 2023, as well as this November 1, December 6, 8, 24 and 31 and January 5, key dates of bridges and holidays of Christmas.

During this period, the Ministry of Transport estimates that up to 3.2 million passengers, 70,500 a day, could be affected by the protest, although it has established minimum services on all routes. These vary between 22% and 80% depending on the journey. The follow-up to the strike also remains to be seen. The impact of the strikes on other low cost this summer, such as Ryanair or Iberia Express, was very limited.

At the moment, the company based at El Prat airport has suspended the aforementioned 54 flights this Tuesday, which represents around 10% of the operations planned for tomorrow – 520 throughout its network. In this way, it considers that it will be able to offer 90% of the scheduled flights this Tuesday.

In the case of Barcelona airport, Vueling's main base, the company estimates that 84% of the flights will operate tomorrow (131 of the 156 planned), while 92% will fly in the rest of Spain and 93% will fly internationally. %. This is a percentage of coverage higher than that marked by the minimum services of the Ministry of Transport because the airline can relocate passengers. For the rest of the days in which there is a strike call, the airline calculates that it will be able to operate "around 90% of the flights".

As for the passengers affected by the 54 flights canceled on Tuesday, Vueling has relocated 74%, either on other flights of the company itself or on other airlines, as well as using other means of transport other than the plane. "The remaining 26% have requested a bonus or refund, or are waiting to choose the option that suits them best," they point out from the IAG banner.

The Stavla union has called the strike to demand a 13.4% salary increase for this 2022 among cabin crew, which would be added to the 6.5% salary increase already agreed this summer between Vueling and the CC.OO union . for the collective. Both the CEO of IAG, Luis Gallego, and the president of Vueling, Marco Sansavini, described the union's demands as "unfeasible".

The group, they insisted during the presentation of IAG results last Friday, has just emerged from the unprecedented crisis of the pandemic – it lost almost 10,000 million euros in two years – and has planned large investments in fleet renewal and technology to meet the new environmental requirements.