Once again, Iberia and SELPA are at it like cat and mouse, this time with ground staff and cabin crew joining in too

The pilots are walking out over the creation of Iberia Express on the following dates:

• 25th January 2012
• 27th January 2012
• 30th January 2012

Meanwhile the ground workers have voted for action to support demands for the extension of their job guarantee clause. The strike dates are set for every Friday and Monday from 3rd February 2012.

Meanwhile, Iberia crew are set to announce their intentions on the 20th January. Exact dates to come on that front.

Iberia management is reluctant to grant the job security offer to all workers with the economic outlook being gloomy, but stat

“Management is not per se against the extension of the job guarantees but feels this should be linked to a renegotiation of all elements in the collective bargaining agreement, including salary, work practices and productivity.”

This action has legs on it sadly. I’d expect a lot of disruptions along the line, as well as another wave of cancellations.

If you’ve flying Iberia next week, I’d consider having some alternative plans in your pocket as SELPA – the Spanish Pilots Union are going out on strike. Again.

The pilots who have been out on strike during the festive period (18th December and 29th December 2011) caused about a 1/3rd of all Iberia flights being cancelled.

What’s more annoying for travellers is the next set of strike actions – on  Monday January 9, and Wednesday January 11

Iberia have confirmed the cancellations of Long haul services from:

• Madrid to Miami
• Madrid to Bogota
• Madrid to  Sao Paulo
• Madrid to Lima
• Madrid to Buenos Aires.

Exact flights cancelled below:

January 9th 2012

January 11th 2012

Data – Iberia.com.

Short and Medium haul cancellations have yet to be confirmed.  What has confirmed as operating are

• Services operated by Air Nordstrom
• British Airways (Iberia’s sister company as part of IAG) services to Spain will continue as normal.

See www.iberia.com for the latest.

As usual – check before you fly to see if you are affected. Iberia have adjusted their booking conditions appropriately due to the strike.

Well for those who are going through UK Border, this is turning into a damp squib of an action.

Reports indicated that 2/3rds of immigration desks are open at London Heathrow and Gatwick, with other ports of entry suffering only minor delays.

Or to quote The Telegraph’s Neil Tweedie:

Here in terminal 3 at Heathrow and the passport hall is a picture of tranquillity. 21 out of 44 border agency desks manned but no passengers to serve. Staff with nothing to do are chatting away merrily. Arriving passengers expecting delays of two to five hours have sailed through.

Or to put it into a picture:

UK Border in LHR T3. (Image - BBC News)

Stansted Airport is reporting no issues, as is Birmingham Airport, Manchester Airport, London City Airport, and most major ports of entry into the United Kingdom.

So the award for overstating the problem goes to BAA and of course, HM Government.

Action beyond the border is bit more harsher, with schools closed today, hospital workers and council workers on strike.

I was planning an early evening update, but if this is the state of play… there’s no point.

Well the picket lines are manned and the public sector strike action day is under way. So lets see if this is a damp squib, or if HM Government have been overstating the matter.

Again.

According to the BBC, Take-offs and landings have been mainly unaffected at London Heathrow and London Gatwick with a few minor cancellations. Staffing at the border appears to operating at 2/3′s of normal capacity.

Brtitish Airways have reported they are operating a “near normal” service with immigration being “no longer than usual”

A report at   Heathrow T3, 10 EU immigration desks are being manned by a mix of Home Office staff and police officers, with the other 5 for non-EU passengers operated by immigration staff.

The Guardian confirms that the 8-10-12 hour waits that were expected have failed to materialise.

In Northern Ireland, no train or buses are operating today.

So really, for travellers – nothing of massive consequence other than the stand-still of travel in Northern Ireland. Some good advice from The Telegraph if you’re coming into the UK:

• having travel documents, including passports, available and taken out of any wallets
• using automatic e-Passport gates (where available)
• having landing cards fully completed and ready
• staying in family group

I’ll be monitoring this during the day and hope to have an update out about 14:00GMT.

From BBC News, it is reported that an Australian independent tribunal in Australia has ordered a permanent end to the industrial dispute that has grounded all Qantas flights.

The tribunal – Fair Work Australia gave the ruling after examining evidence from all sides – unions, airline nad the government

It’s taken the government to get involved – all the way to the top – Prime Minister Julia Gillard – to halt this dispute.

Alan Joyce (Qantas CEO) who ordered the stop in the first place said that operations would only resume if a permanent end had been issued – which is had.

The Melbourne Age has a deeper in-depth review.

Suffice to say, this is not the end of Qantas’s troubles – rather I think a breather before it all goes to heck.. again. One to watch over the coming weeks.

This people, is big. In the ongoing spat between the unions and Qantas management, Qantas is ground it’s entire fleet. 

What will operate:

• QantasLink
• Jetstar,
• Jetconnect services,
• Qantas freight services (Express Freighters Australia and Atlas)
• Codeshares (eg BA flight 16)

Everything else is off the table.

The grounding occurred at 5pm (AEDT) on Saturday 29 October, with Qantas locking out members of unions of Australian Licenced Engineers Union (ALAEA), the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and the Australian and International Pilots Union (AIPA).

Aircraft currently in the air will complete their current sectors and then be grounded.  However, there will be no further Qantas domestic departures or international departures anywhere in the world, costing  Qantas of $20 million per day. This will continue until Qantas implodes, or the unions drop their some of their demands.

Qantas advise:

Customers booked on Qantas flights should not go to the airport until further notice. A full refund will be available to any customer who chooses to cancel their flight because it has been directly affected by the grounding of the fleet. Full rebooking flexibility will be available to customers who wish to defer their travel.

Assistance with accommodation and alternative flights, as well as other support, will be offered to customers who are mid-journey.

Customers should monitor qantas.com for the latest updates. The latest information will also be posted on Qantas’ Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Meanwhile, there is full advice given at http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/disruptions/global/en. If you’re due to fly the Kangaroo, expect delays and get replanning now.

Virgin Australia have announced domestic rescuce fares: see http://www.virginaustralia.com/servicedisruption/index.htm

In the bigger picture, this is forcing the Australian government to intervene in the dispute with everyone trying to take the high ground.  In fact, the government had only mere moments before Qantas announced the move.

Coverage is on the BBC, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Melbourne Age, Seven Australia, News.com.au and practically every other news outlet in the world.

Air Canada seems to be having labour issues, and was facing a strike from it’s 6,800 flight attendants.

This has been halted due to a “procedural move” by the Canadian Labour minister Lisa Raitt that prevents the crew from legally going on strike.

The strike action has been referred up to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to determine if a strike disrupting Air Canadas flights would “threaten public health and safety.”

The strike action was due to commence on Thursday.

Canadian Law being the complex beast it is, states that the flight attendants will not be able to strike until the CIRB makes a determination on the matter. Time-spans are unknown, with some decisions taking up to 60 days to clear.

For Air Canada, it’s business as usual, with flights continuing, leaving the Unions, Air Canada and the rank and file workers to work out what to do next, and how to proceed forward – subject to the CIRB’s decisions.

If you’re planning to fly to Greece on the 5th October… here’s a hint – start planning alterntives as Greek ATC is due to go out on strike that day.

Aegean Airlines has already killed their entire programme of flying on the 5th October http://en.aegeanair.com/all-about-us/press-office/press-releases/press-release/?prid=324, whilst Olympic has not made an annoucement yet. EasyJet has posted it’s thoughts at http://easyjet.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3970/~/current-travel-status

If the strike goes ahead expect chaos and start replanning NOW.

Like an old couple, British Airways and Unite are heading back to the courts to get another part of the dispute settled. This time Unite is taking BA to court

Unite are claiming that it was not consulted properly over the changes that were imposed on its workers – including crew reductions on Long Haul, and the pay freeze.

BA argues it needs to cut losses and claims it was not obliged to consult as “the changes do not alter contractual terms and conditions for individual crew members”.

Let the bunfighting continue!

Well it’s begun. Unite has commenced the ballot on possible strike action.  The ballot that runs from now (25/01) until 22nd February, with the first action possible from 1st March.

Unite reiterates it will not call action over Easter – trying to buy the public off with a sympathy “We’re hitting businessmen, Willie Walsh and not families” line.

Unite is also angry over the plans to replace their staff with other recruited staff (either internally or via leasing), citing it, would put passengers’ lives at risk.

Unless Unite and BA can bang heads together, sort themselves out so the company can survive, this is really going to drag on….

British Airways seems to have ratcheted up its position, by issuing a threat that ID90′s (used for standby travel which gives an industry discount of 90%) are to go for striking workers, and in addition, the quality of crew hotels are now up for review.

Unite describe the move as “shocking”, “another act of provocation” and “petty’.

It should be noted that the ID90′s and other travel perks are NOT part of the standard BA contracts – and thus can be withdrawn as a disciplinary measure. For those BA crew members who commute from far and flung places – this could be very expensive in the long run if their benefits are withdrawn and they’re travelling on ID90′s

Let the games continue – this is get very nasty very quickly.