Norwegian Air Shuttle has announced its intention to close its bases in the Canary Islands and to initiate a collective dismissal procedure in the coming days. This was announced by the Sepla pilots' union, which states that the airline plans to terminate the contracts of 1,191 workers in Spain, which represents "85% of the total number of crew members it currently has."
This, according to Sepla, would imply "the definitive cessation of long-haul operations from Barcelona, as well as a brutal cut in short-haul operations."
With respect to this last operation, the union states that "Norwegian has announced its intention to leave three of the five short-haul bases remaining in Spain inoperative and without crews, specifically Barcelona, Gran Canaria and Tenerife South." "Norwegian would maintain its two operational bases in Malaga and Alicante, although with only one plane in each of them during this year, it adds.
Within this context, Sepla points out that "Norwegian continues its growth in Denmark and Finland, countries where it has initiated pilot recruitment processes and with which it intends to carry out the flights and therefore the Spanish production."
USO and the SEPLA pilots' union have stated that they will jointly face the negotiations "ensuring that the maximum number of jobs for crews based in Spain are maintained, as well as their labor rights."
