British Airways and Iberia to Merge

After two long years of negotiations back and forth, it looks like British Airways and Iberia are finally going to sign off on a merger deal. The new working agreement will save both carriers an estimated $535 million annually and combine supply the aviation tag team will serve roughly 58 million passengers on 408 planes to 200 destinations.

While each side will continue to be branded separately,  they will both fall under the umbrella of the International Airlines Group (IAG) going forward. Many obstacles along the way caused road blocks for the deal to be finalized, but after 18 months it looks like it is indeed a match made in airline heaven.

In other news related to both airlines, it looks like one airline will no longer face a strike while the other is closer to fending off another round of walk-offs. A spokesman for Iberia said that their pilots have agreed to cancel
the strike over pay and job security.  The Cockpit Union, which represents about 4,000 pilots, has agreed to the airline’s
precondition for arbitration. 

Meanwhile, British Airways and Unite Union, which represents 13,500 BA flight attendants, have apparently seen some  ‘‘serious progress’’ toward ending their feud over pay cuts and changes to in-flight staffing. The union has agreed to end any further strikes while talks continue.

Source: All Headline News

Image: Wikimedia