LISBON, Portugal – Portugal’s TAP will cancel 1,316 flights on account of a strike deliberate for the tip of January, affecting practically 160,000 passengers, the state-owned airline mentioned on Thursday.
TAP, presently underneath an EU-approved 3.2-billion-euro bailout plan, mentioned it anticipated the walkout to price the corporate about 48 million euros ($52 million) in income.
An additional lack of 20 million euros was additionally anticipated as a result of potential affect on gross sales, TAP mentioned.
Demanding increased wages and higher working circumstances, cabin crew union SNPVAC introduced earlier this month it could stroll out from Jan. 25-31. It follows a shorter strike on Dec. 8-9, which led to the cancellation of 360 flights.
“The decision to go ahead with a strike … throws out of the window all the work of rapprochement between the parties, leaving thousands of TAP customers with their plans defrauded and seriously affecting the company’s results,” TAP mentioned in a press release.
TAP mentioned it was drawing up a contingency plan to reduce the affect on clients, comparable to by adjusting operations and making it simpler to re-book flights and get refunds.
The EU restructuring plan contains downsizing TAP’s fleet, axing greater than 2,900 jobs and chopping most employees’ wages by as much as 25%. But cuts have come at a time when surging inflation has left employees scuffling with increased prices ($1 = 0.9241 euros) — Reuters