- Iberia Express pilots do not approve fleet allocation plan
- Negotiations between management and SEPLA stalled
- Four aircraft redirected to Iberia mainline fleet
- Iberia mainline pilots ratified agreement through 2027
- IAG announced €6bn investment under Flight Plan 2030
Reports of a breakthrough in the Iberia pilot talks may have been premature. Iberia Express pilots have not approved a fleet allocation plan with negotiations between Iberia Express management and the pilot union SEPLA stalled leaving growth at the low-cost carrier frozen. Talks broke down over proposed compensation structures and modifications to an annex in the 8th Collective Bargaining Agreement that links Iberia Express fleet growth to Iberia mainline. Because no agreement was reached four aircraft originally designated for Iberia Express were redirected and integrated into the Iberia mainline fleet instead.
While Iberia Express talks remained blocked Iberia’s mainline pilots and SEPLA reached a separate labour agreement through 2027 that allocated additional short-haul aircraft to Iberia and expanded low-cost carrier LEVEL to eight aircraft. Under the existing collective bargaining rules Iberia Express’s total capacity remains strictly capped at 15pc of Iberia mainline’s total available seat-kilometres.
Parent company IAG revealed a €6bn investment under its Flight Plan 2030 which aims to grow Iberia’s long-haul fleet from 45 to 70 aircraft while adding four short-haul jets across 2026 and 2027. Iberia’s mainline pilots successfully ratified a collective bargaining agreement extending through 31 December 2027 locking in performance-linked profit sharing and mainline short-haul fleet growth.
