BA and Unite dispute impact of strike action
Sunday, 22 Mar, 2010
0
A war or words has broken out between the union involved in the British Airways cabin crew strike and the airline.
BA said its contingency plans up to yesterday – the second day of the three day walk out – were continuing to work well with additional flights added from both Heathrow and Gatwick.
A full Boeing 777 long haul programme was continuing to be operated from the UK to more than 30 destinations.
“Several” extra Boeing 747 flights were also being run, due to the numbers of crew reporting for work.
“Our charter operators are also continuing to work well and are integrating with our own short haul flying schedules at Heathrow and Gatwick,” BA said.
“On Sunday, cabin crew are continuing to report as normal at Gatwick, and Heathrow levels remain above what we need to operate our published schedule.
“We continue to offer the fullest support to our cabin crew who want to work as normal.”
There has been “no evidence” of industrial action at any overseas airport directed at BA flights, the airline added.
But the Unite union disputed the BA account, saying 140 aircraft were parked up at Heathrow and only nine crew out of 1,1000 turned up for work yesterday. BA dismissed this claim.
Unite said that as of 15.30 yesterday only nine flights from Heathrow left with passengers and 49 long haul departures were “ghost flights” with no passengers.
Long haul flights were also suffering delays.
Picket lines were swelled on Sunday, according to the union.
Of 77 flights scheduled for today (Monday), 37 are empty, 37 are ready to go and only three are running as normal, Unite claimed.
The final day of the first three-day walk out is today and a second four-day strike is due to start at the weekend.
Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley is visit BA cabin crew today (Monday) as they take their third day of strike action.
He will visit crew on picket lines before addressing those gathered at Bedfont near Heathrow.
*See yesterday’s messge to passengers from BA chief executive Willie Walsh on YouTube:
Phil Davies
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments
Suspension of all regional trains in Catalonia following two new rail accidents in Spain