British Airways – Cabin Crew Strike 

British Airways Cabin Crews have begun the second of the 5 scheduled strikes,  British Airways is trying hard to satisfy the the maxium number of their passengers. 

“BA will operate more than 70 percent of its long-haul flights from its main hub at Heathrow airport this week, up from more than 60 percent last week, and more than 55 percent of its short-haul flights from Heathrow, up from more than 50 percent last week, it said.

All flights from Gatwick will operate as scheduled, the airline has said.

BA said it expects to fly more than 75 percent of its customers who already have reservations during the strike.” CNN BA

Many of BA’s loyal cabin crews are working, in spite of the Unions instructions, this is enabling BA to add flights back into the schedule.  In our opinion, the action of the cabin crew’s union has already seriously damaged British Airways  reputation as a quality first line airline, and the union should take a look at the current working rules of BA’s competitors and get in line before there are no job’s left to strike over.

British Airways Strike Updated May 21

The Strike is back on,  British Airways cabin crew union have announced that they will be going on strike on Monday, May 3 for 5 days,  other dates on their rolling strike plan will be confirmed shortly.

BA will not be shut down, but services will be limited and 30 to 50 % of flights will be cancelled or rescheduled.

We think this will be a long summer.

———————————————————————————-

British Airways Strike Update May 17

A British Judge has issued an injunction to UNITE, cancelling the strike

The strike is off until further notice, British Airways hopes to have it’s schedule back to normal by the weekend.

———————————————————————-

British Airways are advising the following:- That Unite, the trade union for British Airways (BA) cabin crew, is intending to take strike action between 18 May and 9 June.

If the strike does go ahead BA will still operate MOST of their scheduled flights.

Flights to and from London City and London Gatwick, BA plans to operate ALL flights to and from London City and London Gatwick.

At Heathrow British Airways intend to operate more than 60% of the longhaul flights and more than 50% of the shorthaul flights in the first strike period and they Will add to this schedule where they can.

The Airline has trained a large number of management personnel to be qualified cabin crew, many of BA’s cabin crew crossed the picket lines and reported for duty as scheduled during the last strike period, and more are expected do so during this strike.

British Airways and the majority of it’s personnel are doing everything they can to minimize the disruptions to their passengers and to remodel the airline to succeed in the future. It is unfortunate that a few members of the BA family are determined to hold on to the privileges and  business model from the past, which evolved during the time of airline regulation and high airfares of the 50’s. 60’s and 70’s.   Most of the worlds major airlines have already re structured their business model to reflect the new world economy.

 The following are passengers options as posted by British Airways:-

If your flight is cancelled you will be able to:

• change your booking to another British Airways flight on the same route within 355 days from the date you change your booking at no extra charge, subject to availability

OR

• change your booking to another British Airways flight to/from the nearest alternative airport  (for example, if booked to/from Boston you could rebook to/from Philadelphia or New York) at no extra charge, subject to availability

OR

• change your booking onto an agreed alternative airline, subject to availability

OR

• cancel your booking and obtain a refund to the original form of payment.

Additional flights

If your booking includes a BA flight outside of these dates, a flight to or from London City or London Gatwick or one operated by our franchise, codeshare or alliance partners you can change these flights at the same time.

If your flight is cancelled you will be able to:

•change your booking to another British Airways flight on the same route within 355 days from the date you change your booking at no extra charge, subject to availability

OR

•change your booking to another British Airways flight to/from the nearest alternative airport (for example, if booked to/from Boston you could rebook to/from Philadelphia or New York) at no extra charge, subject to availability

OR

•change your booking onto an agreed alternative airline, subject to availability

OR

•cancel your booking and obtain a refund to the original form of payment.

Additional flights

If your booking includes a BA flight outside of these dates, a flight to or from London City or London Gatwick or one operated by our franchise, codeshare or alliance partners you can change these flights at the same time.

British Airways Strike Update  May 15.

British Airways have gone to the courts to try and stop Unite, the cabin Crew’s union from carrying out their strike plans,  It appears that the strike will go ahead on the 18th

British Airways is hoping to operated 60% of their planned flights during the strike period.

The Airline’s reservations and support phone lines are jammed, it is very difficult to contact BA, please call your travel agent they can help you with information and changing your flight reservations, if you booked directly or online with British Airways you will have to be patient and call the British Airways reservation centres.  If you use a battery operated phone set, make sure it is fully charged before you call BA.

The Strike Dates are: May 18 to May 22 / May 24 to May 28 / May 30 to June 03  / June 05 to June 09

WE do not recommend making travel plans with British Airways until the issues with their employees are resolved, which with the current attitudes of the company and the employees could be this fall or later.

British airways cabin crews still preparing to strike. Another strike vote is scheduled for the upcoming weeks which will determine whether or not BA’s cabin crews walk of the job.

Paragon Travel recommends whenever practical that our clients do not make any travel plans involving with British Airways until the union and the company have resolved their issues.

The cabin crew has officially announced a series of 4-5 day strikes which are scheduled for :

May 18 to May 22

May 24 to May 28

May 30 to June 03  and

June 05 to June 09

For many this is a time of waiting in the hopes that the strike vote is unsuccessful or the negotiations are.

According to the Daily Telegraph on June 11 the union has a legal mandate that allows them to strike up until June 11 but with no settlement in sight, passengers are preparing for even longer interruptions in service.

Strike dates may be changed or cancelled if BA cabin crew is able to come to an agreement or if the strike vote indicates insufficient support for the strike.

 It is a sad day for us to say that British Airways, normally one of the worlds premier airlines, has been reduced to the status of  an “if there is not an alternative” airline while the strike concerns are present.