Convention Special: BA prepared for more strikes
British Airways will be able to operate 100% of its long-haul flights from London should Unite strike again in the next few months, according to chief executive Willie Walsh.
He said the airline was absolutely confident that long-haul services would be unaffected but said he couldn’t yet say how much of the short-haul programme would run out of the London airports.
The last time Unite members walked out in May, BA was forced to ground about 40% of its short-haul flights.
However, Walsh told the audience at Malta’s ABTA convention today that he thought it was unlikely that Unite would repeat last year’s attempted walk-out over Christmas.
He said: “There is a whole process that Unite has to go through including conducting a ballot, having a mandate for industrial action and serving us with notice. That takes a while.”
Before leaving the ABTA stage, Walsh was asked how much he thought that, a year after the start of BA’s dispute with Unite began, the fault lay with the union to which he replied: “entirely”.
By Dinah Hatch
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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