Tangled Airways for British as Flight Crews Strike

There are going to be more than just a couple of passengers whose flight plans will doubtless go catawampus this weekend, and next weekend as well. With the encouragement of Unite, a labor union in the UK, many flight crew for British Airways are going on strike at those times.

BA reacted thus: "We are very disappointed that, despite lengthy negotiations, Unite has rejected the chance of a settlement and resolved that its strikes should go ahead."

British Airways has stated that they expect to handle about 45,000 passengers this weekend through a union-backed strike. Sounds impressive, doesn't it? Well, it is impressive--but consider this: The average passenger passage through the airways on a March weekend like this is usually somewhere in the vicinity of 75,000 people. Ouch.

How does that break down for BA's hubs of operation? Well, at Heathrow the departure levels for long-haul flights were a shade above 60% Fairly decent, considering the circumstances. But then you have to factor in this equation: only about 30% of regularly scheduled short-haul/domestic flights are slated to be completed.

Things were a sight better for Gatwick, where all long-haul flights are operating as normal, and over half the short-haul flights are going. And lastly, at the London City Airport, everything is operating as normal. Just to show you that even the darkest clouds can have a silver lining, it seems.

Some of the flights using the Boeing 747 aircraft are being reinstated. All long-haul flights using the Boeing 777 aircraft to 30 worldwide destinations are still scheduled to complete as usual. Short-haul flights, with the combined efforts of both BA and charter partners, are expected to complete as usual.

"This is the biggest contingency plan we have ever launched," a BA official stated earlier today. "At Heathrow and Gatwick we have got off to a good start." Meanwhile, United hopes to drive its point home with British Airways, and estimate that approximately 80% of the flight crew have participated in the strike. Is British Airways meeting their contingency-plan projections? Certainly not, according to Unite. A few examples they cite, to back this up:

• Yes, perhaps all flights utilizing the Boeing 777 flights are completing. But, it only tells part of the story. Unite reveals: "By lunchtime today, 85 BA planes were parked at Heathrow - consuming the maximum parking space allowed for BA aircraft."
• There are flights taking off empty, excepting cargo: "BA [is stretching] efforts to make it seem it is functioning."
• A third of Gatwick flights scheduled to depart have not done so as yet
• Two flights engineered by charter, and designed to crack the strike, failed to leave due to technical troubles.

This has the potential to mushroom into something much bigger. It is a situation that merits some careful attention.

And just what is BA's take on Unite? Rather to the point: "It is a great pity that Unite continues to show such disregard for the interests of our customers and our business - and for public opinion at large."

Sources:

"Thousands of BA Flights Canceled As Crew on Strike" By JANE WARDELL, AP Business Writer

"BA strike update: T5 a 'ghost town' as cabin crew strike hits hard"

British Airways Website