Strike Forces Iberia to Cancel over 400 Flights in March

Spanish airline Iberia has been bound to cancel 431 flights –roughly 40 percent of its schedule- between March 4 and 8 as a result of the strike against the company’s overhauling.

Iberia expects to operate 85 percent of its long-haul flights, 62 percent of the midrange operations and 47 percent of its domestic routes. According to information posted on the company’s website, there’ll be further cancelations to be announced by Iberia’s other operators –Vueling, Air Nostrum and Iberia Express.

At the same time, Iberia has implemented a plan to offer travel alternatives to those passengers hit by the cancelled flights, thanks in part to agreements with the oneworld alliance and other additional airlines.

The strike’s first week ended last Friday with nearly 1,300 cancelled flights among Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum and Vueling, plus dozens of thousands of stranded passengers –as many as 70,000 from Iberia alone. The company said that 85 percent of those passengers were relocated.