Finnair and the Spanish recruitment and employment company Adecco have agreed that the cabin crew of approximately 60 people, serving on Finnair’s Barcelona and Madrid routes, will join Finnair’s payroll starting on April 1, 2019. The crew will continue to be based in Spain.
“This model better supports our goals, and creates possibilities to further develop the service experience on our Barcelona and Madrid routes,” says Eveliina Huurre, Vice President of Inflight Experience at Finnair. “During the summer season we are adding one daily frequency on our Barcelona route, and our Finland-based crew will also serve on this route.”
Finnair’s Barcelona and Madrid routes have been operated with Finnair’s pilots and subcontracted Adecco cabin crew since 2013.
Bad news for Finnair passengers on the Madrid route is that from 1st April this year as farm out the route to a wet-lease operation to oneworld alliance partner Iberia for a period of at least a year!.
The airline confirmed this week that Iberia will put up an Airbus A321 aircraft on the Madrid route, blaming the lack of its own aircraft to deploy on the route. For at least the first month of the wet-lease period, Iberia cabin crew will staff the flights, after that, it is envisaged that Finnair will be able to put its own staff on the aircraft.
"Leasing an aircraft from our trusted oneworld partner Iberia supports our growth and the need to increase our aircraft capacity during the upcoming months,” says Jaakko Schildt, Chief Operating Officer at Finnair.
Because of the change in service and airline, customers who are already booked on the Madrid route are being allowed to change their travel dates or cancel their bookings by contacting Finnair’s customer service.
(Images Finnair)
