Details of a merger between British Airways and the Spanish Iberia Lineas were released Friday morning, and though well-received by field analysts, there was some cause for concern among rival airlines and union members. A number of rival airlines expressed anger over the potential merger, saying that it would come too close to monopoly. Members of Britain's Unite union, representing about 70% of the British Airways workforce were also nervous, and leadership in the union said that they would not back the merger without some job guarantees, including a commitment to avoid redundancy layoffs, as well as protections for a number of employee sectors.
See "Rivals and union cautious on BA, Iberia merger", Lily Vitorovich, The Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2009