• The airline contributes €9,300m (0.9%) to Spain’s GDP, between its direct, indirect, and induced activity, and the revenue originating from the more than seven million tourists it brings to our country each year
• To implement its strategy, in 2021 Iberia launched a transformation plan (called Next Chapter) on the basis of five pillars: being a trusted airline, capitalising on its financial strength, reinforcing its hub, focusing on people, and establishing sustainability at the heart of the business
• To further contribute to its reputation as a trusted airline, Iberia designed a new in-flight experience. To get back on track regarding profits, it will continue to contain costs and work to increase revenues by improving its services; and, to strengthen its position in the Madrid hub, it is deploying a strong campaign in the US
• With regard to its people, this summer the airline will hire more than 1,700 temporary airport staff and 400cabin crew. Additionally, in the last quarter of the year, the first new pilots hired since the outbreak of the pandemic will join Iberia
• In addition, Iberia, in partnership with Repsol, has just operated its first long-haul flights using fuel from sustainable sources, as part of its commitment to the green transition of the aviation sector
Iberia continues working toward its objective of recovering profitability in 2022, if socio-political conditions are favourable.
In March, the airline laid out its aims clearly: “From Spain, we generate prosperity by connecting people with the world.” This is something that transcends its activity and has a significant social impact.
€9,300m to Spanish GDP
Coinciding with the launch of its plan to achieve these objectives, Price Waterhouse has produced a report for Iberia, analysing its contribution to the Spanish economy. Specifically, between direct, indirect, and induced revenues, the airline contributes over €9,300m to Spain’s GDP (0.6%) through its activity, through payments to suppliers (indirect contribution), through the families linked to Iberia (induced contribution) and thanks to the more than seven million tourists that the airline brings to Spain each year.
Translated into employment, according to the Price Waterhouse report, more than 160,000 jobs in Spain are also directly or indirectly related to Iberia's activity, which represents 0.9% of jobs in Spain.
Next Chapter, a plan with its sights set on 2024
The airline’s strategy emanates from Iberia's mission, which is based on becoming the preferred choice for flying to and from Spain, positioning its maintenance business as a key centre in Europe, and obtaining the largest possible number of licenses in upcoming handling contests.
And, to land that strategy, Iberia has launched its transformation plan, Next Chapter, in 2021, with its sights set on 2024 and on the basis of five key pillars: continuing to work on being a trusted airline, offering financial strength, reinforcing its hub, focusing on people, and consolidating sustainability as a guiding thread running through its entire transformation plan.
2,100 contracts and 800 contract changes
Along with its customers, Iberia’s people are its main asset and Next Chapter focuses on a range of initiatives related to diversity, talent, flexibility, and recognition. 
In addition, since the end of the furlough programme on 28 February, Iberia carried out 800 contract transformations at airports and hired another 1,700 people for the summer season, 1,200 of which are temporary re-hires and another 500 of which are new hires.
Among the cabin crew , 340 new members of staff joined the airline in June and 400 new will do before 15 July.
The first pilots to have trained through Iberia’s Cadet programme will join the airline in the last quarter of the year. There will be just over forty new recruits, who will cover positions left open due to retirements and tackle the increase in capacity that the company plans for 2023.
With regards to Iberia’s people, it is also worth mentioning an ambitious training programme, "Everything starts with me", which the airline has already provided to more than 4,000 employees, crew members, airport staff, and call centre agents, all of whom work directly with customers. Additionally, starting on 1 June, Iberia’s 7,000 employees are sporting a new uniform.
US campaign
Another of the pillars of the transformation plan, Next Chapter, focuses on strengthening Iberia's hub at Madrid airport to position itself as a trusted airline and become the best choice for flying to and from Spain.
The Iberia Group has already recovered all its destinations in Europe, it has increased its capacity compared to 2019 in some markets in Spain, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, and continues to show a strong commitment to Latin America, with two daily flights to the main capitals such as Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City.
In addition, this summer it launched an intense campaign in the United States, with nine destinations (New York, Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and Chicago, in addition to San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington DC) and operates 120 weekly flights between Spain and the United States.
This deployment of capacity will allow Iberia to reach similar capacity figures to those of 2019; and up to 4% more in terms of take-offs.
This makes it the leading airline between Spain and the United States, increasing its market share by 6 points (in terms of capacity) compared with 2019. In the two years of the pandemic, Iberia has also improved its market share per passenger by 8 points compared with 2019.
During the summer season, Iberia will offer two daily flights to New York and Miami, up to one daily flight to Chicago and Boston, five weekly flights to Los Angeles, and another five to San Juan de Puerto Rico, three weekly flights to San Francisco and four to Dallas and Washington DC. And, in total, it will offer more than 1.5 million seats between Spain and the United States. 
This expansion of the airline’s capacity in the United States is enhanced by the joint business agreement for the operation of the routes between Europe and the North Atlantic that began in 2010 and provides customers with more competitive choices.
A good example is the route to Dallas: the flight schedule will allow the best connections from Iberia's more than 100 destinations in Europe, and, in addition, Dallas is the main hub for American Airlines, which ensures great connectivity within the United States for passengers within the business agreement. This, together with the good expectations for the route, allows Iberia to extend its operations with Dallas to the 2023 winter season, almost before the flights have even been launched.
New in-flight experience
To position itself as a trusted airline for its current and future customers, Iberia is completely renewing its travel experience, on the basis that each customer is specil and each trip is unique. Iberia is working to offer a more personalised service, based on the digitalisation of processes, with a firm commitment to sustainability and an emphasis on its in-flight meals, which have been completely revamped, with high-quality fresh and seasonal products, and all that Spanish cuisine has to offer.
In addition, it introduced a new digital concierge service at iberia.com with information on the menus that will be offered on each flight so that, in a future phase, passengers will be able to select their meals before flying.
The in-flight entertainment system has also been expanded, with more than 160 films, 480 series, documentaries, and master classes, and more than 230 music options. And it has introduced a free messaging service throughout flights for Iberia Plus and Business passengers, which allows them to use WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, and Facebook Messenger.
Financial strength
As part of Next Chapter, demanding objectives have been laid out to return Iberia to a healthy financial footing, tackle the debt acquired during the pandemic and strengthen revenues.
The measures carried out are mostly aimed at cost control, the renegotiation of contracts with suppliers and the optimisation of investments.
A sustainable future
Sustainability is a guiding thread in Iberia's transformation plan, which is being implemented on the basis of four pillars: the green transition of the aviation sector, which includes all fleet renewal initiatives, more efficient operations and the use of sustainable aviation fuel, among others; a more sustainable travel experience for its customers, through the digitalisation of services, the progressive elimination of plastics on board, the development of its waste management system and carbon offsetting; its support for R+D+i; and training and raising awareness in its employees.
