British Airways Plans Long-Haul Flights During Cabin Crew Strike On May 18

British Airways Plc plans to operate more than 60 percent of long-haul flights from London’s Heathrow airport during a five-day cabin crew strike starting on May 18.

About 50 percent of short-haul services from Europe’s busiest airport will also operate, British Airways said today on its website, taking the total number of customers carried to 60,000 a day, or 70 percent of those who have booked tickets.

London-based British Airways aims to maintain services using a combination of its own planes and as many as eight leased aircraft. Europe’s third-biggest carrier is facing four walkouts totaling 20 days by its 12,000 cabin crew after Unite union members rejected the latest offer on pay and staffing.
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British Airways Cabin Crew Launches Second Wave Strike

British Airways cabin crew launched a four-day strike on Saturday, the second wave of action in a week as part of a bitter, long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

BA has pledged that more than three-quarters of its passengers — or over 180,000 out of 240,000 — will still be able to travel as planned during the walkout, which follows a similar three-day action last week.

A further 18 percent of customers have been rebooked with other airlines, or have switched their travel dates to avoid the strike period, it said.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh, who insists the company could fold in a decade unless the changes he wants take place, said the “vast majority” of staff were “pulling together to serve our customers and keep our flag flying”.
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Negotiations Between Representatives of Cabin Crew And British Airway Management Not Find Solution

British Airways and the union representing its cabin crew were no closer to resolving a dispute over pay and conditions Monday as a strike that has grounded thousands of flights entered its third — and busiest — day.

Operations at the airline were put under more strain Monday than over the weekend as there are far more flights packed into normal scheduling.

The airline said it operated 273, or 78 percent, of its long-haul flights and 442, or 50 percent, of its short-haul flights over the first two days of the strikes. It is yet to release details for Monday.

But it has warned effects of the walkout will be felt throughout this week, and workers are scheduled to strike again for four days, beginning Saturday, if the dispute is not resolved.

At Heathrow’s Terminal 5, German couple Carolin and Stefan Marquardt had a seven-hour wait for their flight home to Stuttgart, after being forced to cut their vacation in India short because their original flight from Bangalore was canceled.

“I’ve been stressed by it all,” Carolin Marquardt said.

The Unite union and BA have both claimed victory over the walkout that has caused the airline to cancel more than half of its 1,950 flights normally scheduled over the period.

BA reported that nearly 98 percent of staff reported for work at Gatwick and more than half showed up at Heathrow, allowing it to reinstate a number of canceled flights.

Unite said only 300 of its 2,200 cabin crew scheduled to work over the weekend turned up and accused the airline of counting inbound crew to inflate the numbers of staff on duty.

BA stressed it was legally obliged, as a listed company, to release accurate figures.

The dispute with its workers is expected to be financially crippling for BA — analysts forecast it could cost the airline more than the $95 million Chief Executive Willie Walsh is trying to save through the changes to workers’ pay and conditions.

British Airways Strike Leads To Cancellation of Thousands of Tickets

Thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled on Saturday following the launch of a strike by British Airways cabin crew.

It is first such strike in 13 years. fter talks over cost cutting between the airline and union Unite, which represents cabin crew, collapsed on Friday, the troubled airline said it hoped to keep flights running for up to 49,000 passengers on both Saturday and Sunday.

Unite said that its 12,000 members were supporting the three day walkout.

At Heathrow, which is the worst affected airport, screens were set up to protect the identities of BA staff who defied the strike.

BA said it expected 60 percent of its long-haul services and 30 percent short-haul services from Heathrow would be running over the weekend while short-haul flights from Gatwick would be halved.
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