Countdown to airport strike

On Friday, the start of the Bank Holiday weekend, Palma's Son San Joan airport expects to handle 75'000 passengers and 585 flight movements.
Unions have called on all 4'000 handling staff in the Balearics to join industrial action in protest over plans to liberalise their service, but some of the smaller carriers have already said their ground staff will be operating as usual.

Fortunately for the Balearics, airport services are considered “essential services” which means that, in the event of industrial action, minimum services have to be provided unlike on the mainland.

Nevertheless, the Balearic airports will be operating on a major go-slow with passengers arriving having to possibly wait for hours to collect their luggage. Check-in will take much longer than usual with reduced services and facilities in all areas.

It is not the scenario the travel industry had hoped to start the summer season with.
Some of the main tour operators, with memories of previous strikes fresh in their minds, have already started warning their clients about the strike threat - offering them the option of swapping their destination for locations like Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.

SLIM CHANCE
And it is not just Palma airport, but Ibiza and Minorca too.
Some 35'000 passengers are expected on Friday in Minorca and 30'000 in Ibiza.
Desperate calls were made for Spanish flag carrier Iberia to do everything possible to reach an eleventh hour deal with the union, but yesterday afternoon, the chances of the strikes on Friday and next Monday being called off were very slim indeed.

Felipe Navio, president of the Spanish Airline Association (AECA) blamed Iberia for the strike yesterday.
Of the 14'000 ground staff in Spain, 9'000 are employed by Iberia. Yesterday Flavio, who represents 30 Spanish airlines, claimed that Iberia is worried that, once airport handling becomes a free market, it may lose its top spot as Spain's main airline.

Aviba's Jaime Bauza, however, remains confident that within the next 48 hours, a deal will finally be struck and the strike averted. “But, at this late stage of the game, substantial damage has already been done by the mere threat of industrial action,” he said. “The threat has caused a great deal of concern in the tourism industry which has worked hard all winter to promote the Balearics and boost business,” he added. “Both sides of the dispute have got to be reasonable and reach some kind of agreement as quickly as possible,” said Bauza.
The main tour operators, having learnt from experience, are ready to try and reduce the discomfort and disruption to their clients as much as possible.

Over this May Bank Holiday weekend, Palma airport will handle nearly 180'000 passengers and 1.679 flight movements. A 24-hour strike action on Friday will only serve to complicate the entire weekend which will end with the second day of industrial action on Monday, when most people will be planning to return home after the long weekend.