Air Europa reaches provisional agreement with pilots in Spain after months of strikes

Air Europa and the Spanish Airline Pilots Union (Sepla) reached an agreement in principle on Monday to sign the fifth collective bargaining agreement, which will soon have to be ratified by an assembly and subsequent vote, according to sources involved in the negotiations.

In the coming days the pilots will receive the details of the agreement, which will be explained when the union assembly is held, Sepla said in a statement. For the union, this agreement marks "the end of hostilities" between the workers and the company, which "implies the cessation of the strike calls and the withdrawal of the lawsuit filed for illegality of the strike".

Spain's National Court had postponed to September the first hearing in the case of Air Europa's lawsuit against Sepla for damages caused by the strikes between May and June, which was due to be held on 4 July, but with this provisional agreement the conflict has ended.

The airline saw more than 300 flights cancelled during the 26 days of strike action by its pilots from 1 May to Saturday 2 July. Air Europa

Air Europa currently employs around 4,000 staff and operates 56 routes.

In early July, Air Europa Express and union representatives ratified the pre-agreements reached for the signing of the pilots' and cabin crew collective agreements, which included a wage increase of 11.5% until 2025 in both cases.