By Clare Kane
MADRID, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Workers at loss-making Spanishflag carrier Iberia were set to begin a five-day strikeat midnight on Monday, grounding over 1,000 flights and costingthe airline and struggling national economy millions of euros.
Staff, including baggage handlers, pilots and air stewards,will hold three five-day strikes in February and March toprotest management plans to axe 3,807 jobs and cut salaries atthe airline.
Iberia has cancelled 415 flights between Monday and Friday,although a total of around 1,200 flights operated by variousairlines will be grounded because of the lack of handlingservices at Spanish airports.
The airline said 70,000 passengers would be affected by thefirst strike and that it had placed some customers on differentflights, including those operated by different airlines, whileproposing refunds and alternative travel dates for others.
Iberia, which merged with profitable British Airways in2011 to form the International Airlines Group, reported a lossof 262 million euros ($349.78 million) in the first nine monthsof 2012.
The first strike, from Feb. 18 to Feb. 22, coincides withschool holidays in Britain, Spain's biggest source of tourists.
Transport Minister Ana Pastor pleaded last week for theairline and labour unions to strike a deal, warning of thedamage the strikes could do to the Spanish economy.
"We can't allow Spain to lose more than 10 million euros aday because that kind of hit is going affect all of us," Pastorsaid.
Tourism accounts for around 11 percent of Spanish economicoutput and is one of the country's very few growth sectors in aprolonged recession that has pushed the unemployment rate above26 percent.
TRAVEL LOTTERY
Spain's Transport Ministry has guaranteed skeleton servicesto cover the strike. Iberia said 90 percent of long-haul flightswould take off and domestic services would be worst affected,with almost half grounded between Monday and Friday.
Iberia workers will stage an 8-kilometre march roundMadrid's Barajas airport at 0700 GMT on Monday.
Airports across Spain will also be disrupted byunion-organised demonstrations between 1100 GMT and 1400 GMT onthe first and last days of the strike. Workers will hold astreet protest in central Madrid on Wednesday evening.
Iberia is just one of several companies in Spain, includingVodafone and bailed-out lender Bankia, to layoff workers.
It is fighting an uphill battle against low-cost operators,a depressed domestic economy and competitors that are in bettershape after having already gone through restructuring processes.
"We've got a bad image ... Flying with us is a lottery.That's why our primary objective is to guarantee good serviceand punctuality when travelling with us," Iberia chief executiveRafael Sanchez-Lozano has said.
The airline said it had found alternative flights for 60,000customers whose journeys would be affected by the strike, whileothers had been offered refunds or flights on different dates.
Sabadell Bolsa analysts said the total fifteen days ofstrikes could cost Iberia between 50 million euros and 100million euros of losses.
Two further strikes are planned for March 4 to March 8 andMarch 18 to March 22.
Vodafone (VOD)
easyJet (EZJ)