British Airways Pilots Planning to Strike

An overwhelming majority of pilots for British Airways have voted to strike amid ongoing disputes over pay, potentially impacting London flights sometime this summer. 

The British Airline Pilots Association union (BALPA) has not released information on the dates of the potential strike, but the union is required to give British Airways two weeks-notice before taking action.  The strike is likely to affect pilots working at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, but because a date for the strikes is yet to be confirmed it’s still uncertain as to which flights will be affected.

British Airways predict the pilots’ planned strike may cost as much as $50 million a day, the airline said in a lawsuit as it seeks to halt the walkout. British Airways carries up to 145,000 passengers per day, and the proposed strike could disrupt travel plans during one of the biggest vacation travel seasons.

If a flight is cancelled because of strike action, EU regulations dictate that travelers are entitled to either: a full refund, paid within 7 days, or an alternative flight to their destination from a nearby airport, for which the airline will be responsible for additional travel costs.

“We’re pursuing every avenue to find a solution to protect your travel plans and we urge BALPA to return to talks as soon as possible,” said British Airways in a statement. “We’re very sorry for the disruption this potential strike action will cause.”

“Cynically, we might look at this situation as another union making another threat of strike in the peak summer period; which seems to be a well-trodden path of the threat to disrupt summer holidays. The summer for any transport related business is always crucial and so the threat of Industrial Action at this time will put more pressure on management to give in,” said Cook.

While it’s impossible to accurately assess the costs, it’ll be “very substantial indeed,” running to between 30 million pounds ($37.4 million) and 40 million pounds a day, the airline said in its filings for a hearing at London’s High Court. BA is seeking an injunction to halt the strike, which it expects to start on or soon after Aug. 7.

“We do not wish to inconvenience our customers which is why we have tried to resolve this matter through negotiation starting last November – it is BA who has regrettably chosen to drag this out into the summer months,” said Brian Strutton, General Secretary for BALPA.

The Union believes the cost to BA to settle dispute in full is significantly less than the cost would be of even a single day’s strike action.

“We remain hopeful that this dispute can be resolved before strike action, but we remain committed to action if necessary,” said BALPA in a statement,

Travelers worried about their trip should visit BritishAirways.com for up-to-date information about flight delays and disruptions.