Air Europa Pilots Suspect Airline Is Sold

Air Europa pilots union representative have denounced the progressive outsourcing of production from their airline to Orbest, a charter company property of Orizonia, and have expressed their concern that this derivation of flights is part of a strategy to resize the company in order to sell it or integrate it into a big group, "if it has not sold yet", according to a press note released this Wednesday by Sepla, Spain’s pilots union.
 

According to union representation, in December last year, pilots and airline had an agreement for code-share flights with Orbest in routes connecting Madrid with Cancun and Punta Cana, on the understanding that allowed streamline operations. Agreements of that kind that are repeated for many other airlines, but in this case its different because it trigger a risk to the jobs of pilots of Air Europa, owned by the Hidalgo family through Globalia holding.
 

On May 1st this year, Air Europa extended the Orbest codeshare flights between the Canary Islands and the rest of Spain unilaterally and without agreement with the union Sepla section on Air Europa, as required by the collective agreement. "Section Association reported this irregularity and in mid-July the company told us that removed the codeshare on flights to the Canary Islands, but still Orbest practice inthe making”, says a press note sended to preferente.com.

“Next step will be that the airline says that there are too much pilots”

According to union representation, "Orbest has 9 planes and Air Europa has 40, and those who are staying on land are the Air Europa ones, up to four aircraft on the ground while Orbest is operating our connections with Canary Islands," says the pilots. At this point, they indicate that Orbest a year ago had very little activity and that he now has is owed to Air Europa. "When deriving flights to Orbest, Air Europa is losing money, say union representatives, and the next step is that the company will tell us that there are too much pilots."

According to the pilots, the company has not responded to repeated requests for union representation to be informed of what's going on, raising the alarm of this group. "We feel that with repeated breaches of the agreement, is causing us to go to a labor dispute that we do not want," they consider.

The last of the failures is the change in the interpretation of the agreement concerning the number of pilots on staff, "until now the company established a certain ratio of pilots for each aircraft and now wants to apply only to operational aircraft, excluding periods of the plane does not fly for maintenance, etc .-. To spend part of the activity to increase Orbest the times that the plane does not fly and say that we must reduce the number of pilots. "

"It is a provocation"

In this "scenario of provocation" fall, according to union representation, the recent statements of the president of Air Europa, Juan Jose Hidalgo, which stated: "The pilots have convinced the governments in 'for security' rest periods of about exorbitant "and added:" The story of my drivers is summarized in 20 years of demands, not to collaborate to achieve a higher status and more privileges.

Fatigue and safety can with everything. "A surprising attitude for union representation contradicts the philosophy of the company, forged from hard work and dedication of all.

According to Air Europa pilots spent years boasting of the company be more timely, safe and better quality of the Spanish market "and this was made possible by a collective agreement that respects the authority of the pilots and gives them an important role in decisions operational, as it should be.”