News Summary: IAG to cut 4,500 jobs

MAYDAY: International Airlines Group warned that its Spanish carrier Iberia was "in a fight for survival" and announced 4,500 job cuts as it reported falling third-quarter profits.

BAD TO WORSE: Spain is mired in recession, its second in just three years. Unemployment is now above 25 percent, or for the young, around 50 percent. It is that landscape that former employees of Iberia will have to navigate while the government does whatever it can reduce its deficit, including cuts to jobless benefits.

CARRIER IN CRISES: Iberia pilots staged strikes every Monday and Friday between April 9 and July 20 to protest feared job losses among the company's 1,600 pilots following the creation of the airline's new low-cost affiliate, Iberia Express. Justo Peral, spokesman for the airline pilots' union Sepla, said that IAG's plan "condemns the Spanish airline to death."