Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Iberia, a Spanish airline, has announced a restructuring plan involving 1,727 job losses in its handling operations across Spain. The move was announced on 15 January 2024 and due to be completed by 31 December 2026, as part of a viability plan after losing Aena's tender for third-party handling services.
The proposed plan would involve the creation of a new subsidiary of the holding company IAG (the majority shareholder of Iberia). The new subsidiary would provide handling services, and all employees in this activity (some 8,000 at present) would be attached without altering their current working conditions. The plan entails the departure of 1,727 people on a voluntary basis and agreed with the unions, until 31 December 2026, through a system of voluntary redundancies for those under 56 years of age and early retirement for those over that age or older. Iberia has suggested that once these departures have been negotiated and agreed, Iberia will make new hires to replace these workers. So far, there is no reaction from trade unions.
Iberia is a Spanish airline, employing 17,000 people across Spain.
Updated, 2 Feb 2024: The Spanish airline Iberia and the unions have agreed to create a new subsidiary that will take over handling and to which 8,000 employees of this activity will be transferred. The new company will be 100% owned by IAG (the airline's parent company) and will provide ramp ground assistance service to all the holding brands (Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, Vueling, British Airways, Level and Air Lingus). A plan has also been agreed with trade unions for 1,727 voluntary redundancies, basically targeted to older employees with the idea to contract new younger employees. Also, a new training centre for handling workers will be created and located in Muñoza, close to the Madrid-Barajas airport
Eurofound (2024), Iberia handling, Outsourcing in Spain, factsheet number 200692, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/200692.
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