Most BA flights cancelled as two-day strike begins

British Airways says it has cancelled ‘almost 100%’ of flights today and told affected passengers not to call its customer contact centres without first checking the information on its website.

Despite customer teams ‘working tirelessly’ and extra staff being drafted in, the airline says its contact centres are ‘extremely busy’ and told customers to check the online FAQs relating to the strike before they get in touch.

Anyone who has booked through the trade is being advised to contact their agent.

Pilots who are members of BALPA began a 48-hour walkout on Monday morning and plan further action on September 27.

One passenger tweeted an image of BA’s busiest hub, Heathrow Terminal 5 at 7.20am, describing it as a ghost town.

In a tweet, BA said: "We apologise for the significant impact industrial action will have. If your flight is cancelled, please don’t go to the airport."

Passengers continue to claim they’re out of pocket or have not been offered suitable alternative arrangements.

BA chief executive Alex Cruz told Radio 4’s Today programme the airline is committed to reaching a solution.

"We urge the union to please sit down with us as quickly as we can so that we can reach an agreement," he said.

The travel chaos comes after pilots rejected BA’s offered pay rise of 11.5%.

BA said in a statement: "We understand the frustration and disruption BALPA’s strike action has caused our customers. After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this.

"We remain ready and willing to return to talks with BALPA.

"Unfortunately, with no detail from BALPA on which pilots would strike, we had no way of predicting how many would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly, so we had no option but to cancel nearly 100% of our flights."

Ken McLeod, president of the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA) said: "With as many as 1,700 BA flights being cancelled, thousands of passengers have faced disruption to their travel plans. However, as this has been on the horizon for some weeks, we hope that, for the most part, passengers who were aware of potential strike dates will have taken steps to rebook their flights and made alternative plans.

"The strikes are also causing flights on either side of the strike dates to have more cancellations than predicted, and it is hard not to have sympathy with call centre staff who have to sort out all these problems. The division between pilots and their fellow workers will be strained at the very time the airline needs to work in harmony.

"Our members have been working – and are continuing to work – with customers to amend, change and cancel flight bookings, and the fact that passengers are at least receiving some form of communication gives them comfort that someone is working on their behalf. We know from experience that, if you are a consumer, getting in touch directly with an airline in times of ‘crisis’ can be very challenging."

BALPA estimates the strikes could cost BA £40million a day.

General secretary Brian Strutton said: "British Airways needs to wake up and realise its pilots are determined to be heard.

"They’ve previously taken big pay cuts to help the company through hard times. Now BA is making billions of pounds of profit, its pilots have made a fair, reasonable and affordable claim for pay and benefits.

"BALPA has consistently offered up chances for the company to negotiate a way forward. British Airways must now put the needs of its staff and passengers first and accept that its pilots will not be bullied or fobbed off.

"But the company’s leaders, who themselves are paid huge salaries and have generous benefits packages, won’t listen, are refusing to negotiate and are putting profits before the needs of passengers and staff.

"This strike will have cost the company considerably more than the investment needed to settle this dispute.

"It is time to get back to the negotiating table and put together a serious offer that will end this dispute."

BA said customers with bookings on or around September 27 will be contacted in the next few weeks if their flight is impacted.