Spain is a land of Quijotes, great heroes
capable of the most remarkable acts, full of honour and elevated feelings, but
also a land of betrayers, ready to sell even the family to get a portion of
power or a bag of money. Just like Audax, Minuros and Ditalcon did in Roman
times, killing Viriato, the Iberian hero.
In the long, long history of Spain, this
Kingdom has always been enriched by the countries and civilizations which it
has conquered and viceversa, but there seem to be two exceptions to that rule (France and England). History is full of examples of how negative relations with these nations
have been to the Spanish interest. We are reminded of it every day by that
ridiculous patch of land in the very south of Spain: Gibraltar.
Spain had
to watch how the pirates,
financed and supported by the Royal Government, destroy Spanish maritime
commerce.
This prologue illustrates what it is
happening with Iberia and the creation of the new Iberia express. Could it be
another story of British abuse and Spanish betrayers? The future will give us
the answer, but what we have now is some significant data to think about.
Today wars are not like in the past. Wars
now are commercial and have many consequences in the countries and people affected.
In this context Iberia is not just another company, it is a historic symbol of the
Spanish economy and the flagship of Spanish air transport.
The story of the almost centenarial
company which bears the name of the land of Viriato, could have a certain
parallel with the story of the hero betrayed by three of his soldiers. There is
sufficient data to prove that Iberia has been sold to the advantage of British
Airways, with no apparent reason, so: in exchange for what? Who is the real beneficiary
in this operation?
I recommend reading the report of Dr. Francisco Javier Antón Burgos from "Universidad Complutense de Madrid":
From this report we can extract some key
data:
- In 2009 Iberia and BA are two independent
airlines in Oneworld alliance. Iberia is a profitable company and BA has a
delicate financial situation.
- The new Madrid T4, paid with Spanish
public investment, allowed Iberia to consolidate its Madrid hub and to expand
its operations as the main operator in that hub. At the same time BA had
exhausted its expansion possibilities because London Heathrow hub had no more
slots available
- With the situation described above, at the
end of 2009 both companies sign the merger agreement, that in fact is a sales
agreement because from that point onward BA would have 55% of the new IAG
company and 7 of 13 members of the board, giving BA control of the company.
- On 6th October 2011 Iberia
Express is announced as the new low cost carrier. Low cost implies that
personnel will have lower levels of contracts. Meanwhile BA maintains the status
of its personnel.
- Since the “merger” BA has increased the
traffic to Spanish airports by 23% while Iberia has lost 15% in the same time.
- Iberia has ordered 8 medium body planes
while BA ordered 36 wide body which gives an indication of the expansion plans
in the long range routes.
- Iberia has not contracted any pilots in
the last 9 years while BA expects to hire 800 pilots by 2016.
The conclusion of the report and the
future situation expected by 2015 would be something like this:
-
Iberia will lose Cargo and Long Range
passenger transport to BA
-
Iberia will only keep low cost regional
passenger transport (Iberia Express) and Maintenance Services
The initial Iberia Company founded in 1927
will finally disappear, Iberia Express will have to fight and survive in the
difficult market of low cost in Europe, while BA keeps and expands its
privileged status in the long range market.
So, once more, it appears that someone has
cheated the Spanish army and someone is playing the role of Viriato’s
betrayers.
