BA claims to be close to ending dispute
But pilots say many flights are now operating half-empty
British Airways is either close to agreeing a deal with unions over its controversial swipe card system or suffering as passengers desert in their thousands – depending on who you believe.
The airline’s chief executive Rod Eddington has been holding meetings with members of the three main unions involved in the dispute and has stated that there could be agreement by the end of the week.
However, he did admit that the airline had underestimated the strength of opposition to the swipe card system from check-in staff and that the carrier had more to do before a deal can be reached. Talks at the conciliation service Acas are expected to resume within a couple of days.
Meanwhile, a report in The Times quotes pilots for BA who say many flights are running “half-empty”; the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) is calling for the dispute to be settled before the “company is destroyed”.
The newspaper that since the dispute started, both easyJet and Virgin Atlantic have each taken GBP1 million extra, while Eurostar has taken 5,000 extra bookings.
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