The Unite union has appealed to the European Commission to halt the takeover of Air Europa by British Airways’ parent IAG.
Unite, which represents BA cabin crew, ground handlers and other workers, confirmed it has told EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager that it will act as a third party opposing the acquisition.
More: British Airways ‘fire and rehire’ plan attacked
The union hit out at IAG spending €1 billion on the acquisition, announced last November, while cutting 12,000 jobs at BA and “pleading poverty as an excuse to execute its brutal ‘fire and rehire’ strategy on its BA workforce – stripping workers of their terms and conditions”.
In a statement, Unite said it “is now in talks with the DG Competition case team who will be investigating the takeover”.
The union said it had identified “serious competition concerns with the potential to scupper the Air Europa deal”.
It noted: “IAG’s increasing domination of the market for flights from Europe to South America, IAG’s dominant position at Madrid-Barajas airport and the group’s monopolistic hold over the Spanish domestic market.”
Unite said the takeover “would drive up ticket prices and reduce the number of fights on some routes”.
On announcing the deal to acquire Air Europa from Spanish group Globalia, IAG said it expected the acquisition to complete by the second half of this year
IAG confirmed it would retain Air Europa’s name and operating the carrier separately, at least initially.
Air Europa is Spain’s third-largest carrier and IAG already owns the two largest in Iberia and Vueling.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary demanded action from EC regulators at the time, saying: “It’s a bad deal from a competition point of view. We’ll be looking for the competition authorities to require divestments.”
A leading aviation analyst told Travel Weekly: “It will give IAG the two main airlines operating to Latin America out of Madrid and all the connecting traffic.
“It would appear to materially affect the competitive dynamics and there is the potential for market distortion.”
Sharon Graham, Unite executive officer said: “Unite is questioning why IAG is seeking to fire and rehire the workforce at BA while its parent IAG is ploughing ahead with buying an airline for over €1 billion.
“The case team at DG Competition have been very open to us sharing our concerns with them.
“We’re now gathering detailed evidence from a number of expert sources and discussing the takeover with other parties that could be negatively impacted.
“We’re confident that we have a strong case and look forward to presenting our evidence when Phase I of the investigation begins.”
More: British Airways ‘fire and rehire’ plan attacked
