Thousands of passengers at Canary Island airports are to be affected by the latest strikes to hit the airline sector in Spain, this time by Vueling cabin crew who are demanding a 13.4% pay rise.
The action has been called by the Stavla union and at the moment it is not known which flights will be affected because the minimum services have yet to be established.
However, the archipelago is one of the destinations with the most number of flights operated by Vueling, and on Tuesday, which is the first day of the strikes, more than 40 flights are due to depart from or land at the island-s airports.
Representatives at Vueling have said the decision to strike is “regrettable” and that this is the time to work together to build the airline’s future, not to cause division. They also said the union’s demands for salary increases of 33% between this year and 2025 are unviable and would result in staff having to be laid off if adopted.
In August, the airline reached an agreement with another union, the CCOO, for a 6.5% salary increase, but Stavla rejected it. CCOO members will not be supporting the planned strike action, so Stavla will be on its own, and a reduced number of flights will be operating on strike days.
