International airline talks over coach strike

Spanish and international airlines held top level talks in Palma yesterday to discuss the effects of the coach strike and how to combat the crippling effects of another dispute in the future. The meeting was attended by Marc Frisque, the President of the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) who announced that the Association is to start work on drawing up a contingency plan to cushion the severe blow of coach strikes. During the meeting with the Association of Spanish Airlines, Frisque expressed the deep concerns of the European airline industry over what happened in the Balearics at the start of the month. “There is little point in investing heavily in new aircraft and improving safety if passengers are trapped in airport terminals because of local industrial action,” Frisque told his Spanish colleagues. He also stressed that European airlines have “taken note of what happened in the Balearics and the majority intend to take precautions in order to work around such a crisis when they happen again”.