Iberia on the verge of a crash.
Yesterday, almost all flights from Madrid and Santander operated by the Spanish airline were cancelled or rescheduled. The company claims it was a temporary outage, but local media reports indicate a boycott by employees.
Roberta Namour, from Spain – Check-in done. The Iberia plane from Santander to Madrid was scheduled to take off in an hour. That is, if the crew had shown up. Flights from other airlines depart on schedule. Some time later, two men and a woman in uniform appeared calmly, with sandwiches in hand. "We apologize to the passengers for the exceptional delay," they said as we finally boarded.
Barajas Airport, Madrid. On the departure screen, at least fifty flights are confirmed and six are canceled or delayed. All are Iberia flights. After an hour's wait, the boarding gate is finally announced, a 12-minute walk to the indicated location. But the plane to Paris isn't leaving from there. The gate has changed again, moments before the scheduled departure time. From gate H4 it changed to K86, meaning almost a 20-minute walk.
As I ran through the airport corridors, I realized I wasn't the only one in this situation. Around me, elderly people, parents with children and a thousand bags, and several other passengers were rushing everywhere. When I finally reached K86, a Frenchman in a suit, wiping the sweat from his face, was talking on the phone. "If I told you what happened to me these last few days, nobody would believe me. Iberia is the worst airline in the world. If you can avoid it, don't fly Iberia," he said.
What's the problem this time? The poor company employee had to endure all the insults from exhausted customers who had gone through the pathetic situation of the mad dash through the giant Madrid airport. "We apologize for the inconvenience caused, but we are experiencing some logistical problems," she tried to explain.
But the truth is that delays and cancellations of Iberia flights have been a constant in Spain. The airline is on the verge of collapse. The list of substitute pilots, to replace the tired main ones, is almost empty. Always denying the existence of a staff strike, Iberia clearly demonstrates a serious problem of labor shortage. And when the crew shows up, the impeccable image of the flight attendants is replaced by a dejected and disheveled appearance. Flying Iberia again will only be an option when the crisis in Spain is definitively behind us.