British Airways cancels thousands of flights as crew strikes
British Airways was scrambling to deal with a three-day strike launched by cabin crew Saturday, throwing the plans of tens of thousands of travelers into chaos and risking harm to the Labour government before a tough general election.
BA chartered planes from rival airlines, drafted in volunteer crew from its other work force and rebooked some passengers on other services in a bid to keep as many passengers happy as possible — but it was still forced to cancel thousands of flights.
Chief Executive Willie Walsh issued a direct apology to passengers via YouTube for the walkout, the airline’s first in almost 15 years, saying it was a “terrible day for BA.”
The Eurostar train service between London and continental Europe and Virgin’s rail services between London and Scotland were expected to be busy as passengers sought alternate routes.
BA also warned Saturday that the disruption would likely last several days beyond the three-day strike, because of a knock-on effect on flights that would carry through to the end of a second strike planned for March 27-30.
“We’re in limbo land,” said Susan Danby, a school worker from the northern English city of Hull. She is due to fly March 29 to Las Vegas with friends to celebrate their 50th birthdays. “This is our dream trip, we booked it last August and we’ve been planning it for years.”
“We all want more money and better conditions, but people shouldn’t ruin other people’s holidays,” Danby said.
As protesters were readying picket lines Saturday outside London’s Heathrow international airport, analysts estimated BA has already lost more than 25 million pounds (more than $37 million) because of canceled tickets and contingency costs.
The two planned strikes combined could cost the airline more than the 63 million pounds ($95 million) that Walsh is trying to save through the disputed changes to workers’ pay and conditions.
The Unite union has gathered some support from unions in the United States, Germany and Spain for its action, but they have so far stopped short of pledges for coordinated activity that would disrupt BA’s ability to refuel and service the planes it is operating over the walkout.
Aside from hurting BA financially, the strike is also an unwelcome event for Britain’s governing Labour Party before national elections expected before June.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown irritated Unite, a major political donor, by calling the union “deplorable,” and as late as Friday evening was urging it to call off the strike.
Britain faces even more possible travel chaos in the run-up to the April 2-5 Easter break, as railway signal workers voted last week to join rail maintenance workers in a strike. The Rail Maritime and Transport union has not called dates for the walkout, but refused to rule out the long Easter weekend.
And over this weekend, engineering works on the London Underground were forcing closures between central London and Heathrow, though the Heathrow Express train service was operating as normal.
“As the country struggles out of the recession, the last thing we need is the unions holding the country to ransom,” said Theresa Villiers, the opposition Conservative Party’s transport spokeswoman.
BA said it would handle as many as 49,000 passengers on both Saturday and Sunday. That compares with the average 75,000 for a normal weekend day in March.
At its Heathrow base, more than 60 percent of long-haul flights will operate, but only 30 percent of short-haul. At Gatwick, all long-haul flights and more than half short-haul flights will run as normal.
BA said some passengers avoided the disruption flying a day earlier, including some flying to the Six Nations rugby match between France and England in Paris on Saturday evening.
Any passengers with canceled flights from Saturday through the end of the second planned strike on March 30 will be allowed to rebook on another BA flight within 355 days at no extra charge, but no refunds were being offered, the airline said.
The BA chief, Walsh, said he had “no concern whatsoever” about the threat of solidarity actions in other countries.
Nevertheless, the U.S. International Brotherhood of Teamsters urged travelers to find alternatives.
“We are keenly aware of British Airways’ operations in the United States and the cities served by the airline,” said the Teamsters, representing 40,000 aviation industry workers. “We continue to look at this situation as it evolves and are keeping our options open.”
The U.S. Association of Professional Flight Attendants also expressed support for BA, saying it was concerned about the use of volunteer crew throughout the strike period.
The airline on Friday offered a compromise on a proposed pay freeze this year, offering a 3 percent rise next year and the year after and then an inflation-linked increase in 2013/14 capped at 4 percent.
Walsh said Friday it was “deeply regrettable” that the union rejected the airline’s proposals. BA says the disputed changes are critical to the airline’s survival.
Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley, which has warned it will schedule more strikes for after the Easter break if the dispute is not resolved, said BA “does not want to negotiate and ultimately wants to go to war with this union.”
Unite argues it was not properly consulted on the changes, which also include a switch to part-time work for 3,000 staff and a reduction in cabin crew sizes from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from Heathrow.
Source: AP