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9 November 2012

Five questions answered on… the IAG-owned Iberia job losses

International Airlines Group (IAG), who owns British Airways, has announced it will cut a significant amount of jobs on its Iberia airline.

By Heidi Vella

How many jobs are IAG cutting?

Around 4,500. It has set January 31 next year as a deadline to reach an agreement with trade unions on redundancies – if they fail to meet this deadline it will further reduce its capacity, AIG have warned. 

Why is IAG cutting these jobs? 

According to Iberia’s Chief Executive, Rafael Sánchez-Lozano, the airline is in “fight for survival” mode and is currently “burning €1.7m every day”. This is what he told The Telegraph.

What else did he say? 

Justifying the job cuts Sánchez-Lozano added: 

It is unprofitable in all its markets. We have to take tough decisions now to save the company and return it to profitability.

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Unless we take radical action to introduce permanent structural change the future for the airline is bleak. However this plan gives us a platform to turn the business around and grow.

What do the figures say? 

For the first 9 months of the year IAG reported a pre tax loss of €169m. This is compared to a €394m pre-tax profit last time. Also in the same period last year passenger revenues also grew from €10.1bn to €11.6bn.

What other airlines does IAG own? 

IAG also owns British Airways and bmi and has 398 aircraft flying to 200 destinations. It recently put in a bid to take over Spanish budget airline Vueling for €113m (£90m). The company was only formed in January 2011 and is listed on the London and Spanish Stock Exchanges. 

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