Icelandic pilots approve strike ballot targeting charter flights
Thursday 5th November 2026 on 15:31 in
Iceland
Members of the Icelandic Airline Pilots Association (FÍA) have approved a vote on strike action limited to charter flights operated by Icelandair and Loftleiðir for third parties, mbl.is reported.
The proposed action would not affect Icelandair’s scheduled flights and would focus mainly on the airline’s plans in Malta. FÍA said the limits were intended to protect passengers on Icelandair’s scheduled network, safeguard the public interest and reduce any impact on Iceland’s economy.
Collective bargaining between FÍA and the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise has been under way at the state mediator since spring. The agreements expired in autumn 2025.
FÍA said the dispute was no longer only about pay and working conditions, but also about keeping jobs in Iceland. The union said Icelandair had secured access to a Maltese operating licence by acquiring a 49% stake in Fly Play Europe and intended to move jobs there. It accused the airline of seeking to bypass Icelandic collective agreements by transferring work to pilots on less favourable terms, describing the plans as social dumping and an evasion of collective agreements.
The union said its collective agreement clearly gives Icelandair pilots priority for jobs the airline plans to fill with leased crews or sham contractors through Fly Play Europe.
FÍA said it is seeking the same pay improvements agreed across the general labour market under a social pact, which it said had already been offered to other groups of Icelandair employees. Given the impact of fuel prices, the exchange rate and emissions trading system charges on the airline’s operations, the union also offered a short-term agreement with modest pay increases. Icelandair rejected that proposal, according to FÍA.
The union said it also offered to accept a wage freeze on the condition that all Icelandair employees shared the burden. It said the airline rejected that option as well. FÍA called on Icelandair’s management to drop plans to move jobs abroad, respect pilots’ contractual priority rights and negotiate on the same basis offered to other employee groups.