Adding to travel chaos, easyJet crew begin 9-day strike in Spain

OVIEDO, Spain

Eight EasyJet flights traveling to and from Spain were canceled on Friday, according to a Spanish trade union, as the low-cost airline’s Spanish crew began their nine-day strike.

Adding to the travel chaos is the overlap with the striking Ryanair crew in Spain, whose six-day strike is set to end on Sunday.

Between the two airlines, the labor action canceled nine flights and delayed a further 134 on Friday, according to the USO union, which is behind both of the strikes.

On Thursday, 54 Ryanair flights were canceled and 300 were delayed due to the strike.

Spanish workers of both airlines are demanding better pay and working conditions.

According to union official Miguel Galan, Spanish workers for EasyJet are demanding to be paid the same as their counterparts in other European nations.

In Spain, the average base salary is €950 ($991) per month — €850 ($886) less than their colleagues in France or Germany, he said.

The USO has also denounced Ryanair for bringing in replacement crew from other countries during the strike, which is illegal, and abusing the “minimum service” requirements set by Spanish law.

The demands of Spanish cabin crew are adding to travel woes across Europe, as airports and airlines across the continent struggle to adapt to the uptick in passenger demand.

On Thursday, 30 flights were canceled at London’s Heathrow due to more passengers catching flights than the airport was able to serve.

On Friday, Irish airline Aer Lingus canceled more than a dozen weekend flights due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, according to a statement.

Meanwhile, staff at Paris Charles de Gaulle are also on strike, triggering the cancellation of around 10% of the airport’s flights.