Pilots at Spanish Airline Iberia End Strike

Pilots at the Spanish airline Iberia have agreed to end a three-day-old strike that was forcing the carrier to cancel more than 200 flights a day, the government said Wednesday.

The pilots went on strike Monday to protest Iberia's stake in a new low-cost airline, saying that investment would cost them jobs. The two sides have been meeting daily to discuss pilots' demands that Iberia guarantee their jobs are secure.

Iberia spokesman Jaime Perez Guerra said the two sides conferred through the night into Wednesday morning.

An accord between Iberia and the pilots to end the strike will be signed at the Development Ministry later in the day, the ministry said.

The strike, which hit Spanish airports in the middle of the holiday season, was to have lasted through to Sunday.

Iberia had forecast that a weeklong strike would cost it euro35 million (US$44.58 million) in revenue and affect 200,000 travelers.

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