class="size-full wp-image-14322 alignright" title="BA 747" src="http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/BA-747.jpg" alt="Passengers stuck in limbo as talks continue" width="339" height="227" />

Cabin Crew working for href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airlines/British-Airways/">British Airways have put their plans to set strike dates on hold as negotiations with the flag carrier continue over pay and working conditions.

About 1,000 href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk">flight attendants were yesterday told by leaders of BASSA – an offshoot of the Unite union – that every effort should be exhausted before industrial action is taken.

“There was an overwhelming feeling that we do not want to leave any stone unturned,” one BA cabin crew member told The Guardian after attending the BASSA meeting at Kempton Park racecourse, near href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airports/Heathrow/">Heathrow Airport.

The new conciliatory tone from Unite follows a massive public backlash against BA cabin crew after they voted in favour of strikes by a majority of 81 per cent earlier this week.

That was the second mandate handed to the union endorsing walkouts – coming on the heels of an even stronger vote in December, which was quashed by the High Court – but union leaders are wary of rushing into strike action due to the overwhelming lack of public support.

A recent survey of more than 1,000 users of the Cheapflights News & Views blog found that just one in five air passengers has href="http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/2010/02/ba-strike-one-in-five-passengers-back-cabin-crew-walsh/">sympathy for BA cabin crew in the current dispute.

The airline’s flight attendants are unhappy about reductions to staffing levels which were unilaterally imposed by British Airways last year – a move that management says was necessary to stem massive losses at the flag carrier, but which cabin crew have argued entails safety risks for passengers.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has never filed an objection to the lower staffing levels, which comfortably exceed the legal minimum of one crew member per 50 passengers.

Announcing the union’s commitment to further negotiation before launching strike action, BASSA said: “Dialogue with BA is ongoing and although the progress is painfully slow there has been movement and all avenues should be properly explored before the final button is pushed.”

The new softer tone was not echoed by BA boss Willie Walsh, however, who has reaffirmed to staff that he is primed to tackle the BA strike threat head on if walkouts materialise.

“I am confident that we will all do our best for our customers and ensure we can fly as many aircraft as possible to keep disruption to a minimum [if the strike goes ahead],” he wrote in British Airways News. “We must all think of our customers and do everything we can to protect their travel plans.”

BA stepped up recruitment efforts in January and is also known to have trained hundreds of ’strike-breaker’ volunteer cabin crew from other departments in the company.

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British Airways cabin crew have once again voted to go on strike, but unlike the previous attempt over Christmas the unions have been slow to announce dates for their industrial action.

The reason for Unite’s tardiness in setting specific dates is twofold. First, talks with BA management are continuing and the union – mindful of the battering its cabin crew took in the press over Christmas – will want to exhaust every option before inflicting another devastating blow on passengers.

Second, and less encouragingly, unions have 28 days in which to make their mind up under industrial relations law. That grace period allows Unite to keep the pressure on management, as the airline continues to lose customers each and every day that the uncertainty over the strike drags on.

Stuck in the middle of this ongoing dispute are the flag carrier’s loyal passengers. In an effort to help, Cheapflights has responded by producing the following Q&A for travellers.

 
When will the BA strike occur?

The dates have yet to be announced, but we know the union is promising not to target the Easter break. Unfortunately for passengers, that reassurance must be taken with a pinch of salt as disruption could still take place on either side of the holiday. Air services take days to return to normal following walkouts, meaning that anyone due to fly over Easter could still face delays or even cancellations.

March currently seems the most likely date. Regardless of when the strike occurs the union must give seven days notice, which means outbound services booked for the next few days will be spared. Worryingly, as long as Unite abides by industrial law, its mandate for strike action will continue into the summer.

 
How bad will the disruption to flights be?

This depends on a number of factors, including the duration of the strike action and the strength of the cabin crew turnout. No matter what happens the flag carrier is certain to run a limited service, most likely focusing on protecting its lucrative long-haul flights to Asia and North America. The decision by BA boss Willie Walsh to hire a team of volunteer cabin crew as strike-breakers will prop up operations.

But the impact on services across its route network cannot accurately be predicted until we find out what type of strike cabin crew are opting for. A ten-day walkout will paralyse services for a relatively short period of time, whereas a series of 48-hour strikes would result in more prolonged disruption.

 
Am I entitled to an automatic refund?

Unfortunately it’s not that simple. If your flight falls within the strike period BA will immediately offer you the chance to rebook on any date within one year of your original departure. You’ll be allowed to fly to or from the same airport, or a nearby one if that is more convenient for you.

However, refunds will not be forthcoming until BA has categorically cancelled the flight. Unfortunately, because the airline is making every effort to keep services running, cancellations may not officially be announced until the very last moment. Refunds are therefore far from guaranteed, and passengers are strongly advised not to book flights with an alternative carrier until more details are announced.

 
What about my insurance – will that cover me?

Again the situation is complicated. Even if you receive a refund for your BA flight the airline certainly won’t pay out for hotel or car bookings, therefore many travellers are looking to insurance providers. The Association of British Insurers is warning that anyone who booked their flight after Monday 22 February – when Unite declared its intention to go on strike – will not be entitled to claim on their insurance policy.

Check the terms of your agreement now. Most insurers will only pay out if you are delayed for more than 12 hours following a cancellation, and some providers have exclusions for strikes. Package holiday travellers are slightly better off, though, as their travel agent should be protected by the ATOL scheme.

 
What are my chances of getting compensation?

Slim to none. EU regulations entitle passengers to compensation if their flight is cancelled within 14 days of departure, but airlines have a get-out-of-jail-free card in the form of “extraordinary circumstances” beyond their control. Unfortunately, this is widely believed to including industrial action.

 
When will the BA strike threat go away?

That’s the question on everyone’s lips, and the answer varies hugely depending on who you ask. Unite insists it will stop threatening walkouts when management backs down over its cost-cutting programme; BA maintains that its belt-tightening regimen is vital to returning to company to profitability.

Whomever you side with, one thing is certain. The longer BA and Unite continue this dispute, the greater the chance that customers will desert them and that Britain’s once-proud flag carrier will find itself declaring bankruptcy. Cheapflights stands firmly with the flying public in urging both sides of this dispute to return to the negotiating table and stop inflicting unfair punishment on air passengers.

Did we miss anything? Post your questions below and we’ll do our best to help.

 
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PRESS RELEASE – LONDON, U.K. (23/02/10)

The travelling public is firmly behind British Airways in its dispute with striking cabin crew, new research from Cheapflights.co.uk reveals.

A total of 1,087 passengers were surveyed by the website between Tuesday 16 February and Monday 22 February, with the online poll closing two hours before the strike was announced. Participants were asked whether they would support BA cabin crew if industrial action was called, choosing from three responses: Yes, No or Maybe.

The results point to overwhelming support for BA in the dispute over pay and working conditions. Exactly 75 per cent of respondents (818 people) said they had no sympathy whatsoever for cabin crew, describing them as “overpaid and underworked”.

A mere 20 per cent (213 people) voiced support for the flag carrier’s flight attendants, whom they endorsed as being “the best in the industry”. The remaining 5 per cent (56 people) seemed cynically indecisive, saying they would consider backing the strike but only if their flight was not affected by any disruption it brought about.

“This survey definitively adds the flying public to the chorus of voices already pleading with cabin crew to see sense and call off the strike,” commented Joseph Sikorsky, Global Brand Director of Cheapflights.co.uk and a former BA head office employee.

“BA cabin crew are far more privileged than their counterparts at airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, bmi and easyJet. The changes that have been made to their working conditions reflect fundamental restructuring which is vital if the flag carrier is to avoid the fate of so many other airlines that ceased operations during the recession.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last month declared that 2009 was the single worst year for the airline industry since World War II.

Falling passenger numbers and strained yields drove the majority of airlines into the red during the downturn, with legacy carriers such as British Airways being particularly hard hit due to their reliance on the collapsing premium market for Business and First Class cabins. BA posted losses of £401 million in 2008/09 and is widely expected to follow that up with even greater losses – perhaps running as high as £600 million – this financial year.

“The numbers speak for themselves, and our survey shows that passengers have no illusions about the gravity of BA’s predicament,” Sikorsky said. “Cabin crew will only add to their woes if they press on with this damaging and unjustifiable strike.”

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British Airways cabin crew have once again voted to go on strike in a move that will spell travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of air passengers across the UK.

The Unite union return a vote in favour of industrial action after re-balloting its 12,000 BA cabin crew members in an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.

The flag carrier’s cabin crew had already passed a vote in favour of walkouts in December, but that BA strike threat was defused by an eleventh-hour High Court ruling.

No such reprieve is expected following this latest strike vote, with Unite reportedly taking extra measures to ensure that its balloting procedure met legal standards.

The specifics of the strike action are not expected to be announced until later this week, but a recent online poll involving 3,600 members of BASSA – an offshoot of the Unite union – showed that a two-thirds majority of BA cabin crew want the industrial action to last at least ten days.

However, the strategy thought to be favoured by union leaders would see cabin crew stage a series of 48-hour strikes, which would cripple flights for weeks due to knock-on delays.

Announcing the vote in favour of a strike, Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, said that 81 per cent of the BA cabin crew represented by the union had returned their ballot papers. Of those, 79 per cent reportedly cast their vote in favour of industrial action.

That marks a reduction on the nine out of ten who backed strikes during the Christmas period, suggesting that the public backlash which followed that bid has dented staff’s resolve.

British Airways has also taken measures to deter cabin crew from backing a strike, including threatening to permanently revoke their generous travel perks – which give staff 90 per cent discounts on flights – and enlisting up to 3,500 volunteer cabin crew from other departments.

Willie Walsh, CEO of the loss-making flag carrier, has consistently warned that BA faces bankruptcy if it does not press ahead with its swingeing cost-cutting programme.

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class="alignright size-full wp-image-13928" title="British Airways" src="http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/British-Airways-High-Court.jpg" alt="British Airways" width="277" height="206" /> href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airlines/British-Airways/">British Airways cabin crew are poised to vote in favour of a strike following news that their bid to overturn new working conditions has been rejected by the High Court.

The Unite union had taken British Airways to court over the carrier’s decision to cut the number of cabin crew by one or two members on all of its short and long-haul href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk">flights.

BA cabin crew had claimed they were not consulted on the move, but their legal bid to reverse the changes was this morning rejected by Judge Sir Christopher Holland.

The flag carrier’s cost-cutting efforts comes as BA expects to announce annual losses of about £600 million this year, with the airline losing roughly £1.6 million per day.

British Airways CEO Willie Walsh has warned that fundamental restructuring is needed if BA is to avoid the fate meted out to other loss-making carriers such as href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airlines/Japan-Airlines/">JAL Japan Airlines, which declared bankruptcy last month. But Unite’s only response has been to ballot members for strike action.

The union will announce the result of its strike vote at 2pm on Monday 22 February. Unite has to give seven days notice before staging industrial action, meaning walkouts could begin on 1 March.

Reacting to the latest news, a spokesman for British Airways said: “We are extremely pleased with today’s High Court ruling that the modest changes we made to onboard crew numbers on flights from href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airports/Heathrow/">Heathrow were reasonable, did not breach crew contracts and can remain in place.”

But its call for the BA strike threat to be dropped fell on deaf ears, with Unite chief Len McCluskey saying the ruling “makes absolutely no difference to the substance of our dispute with British Airways.”

This is the second time the High Court has returned a decision in favour of British Airways over the industrial spat. In December, a judge granted the airline a temporary injunction that shielded it from a 12-day strike due to be held over Christmas, citing concerns about the method of balloting staff.

Saj Ahmad, analyst at FBE Aerospace, said the High Court’s continued support for BA sends a clear message to Unite that its grievances lack both judicial and public backing.

“This court ruling is a massive blow to the entire basis of the cabin crew union position,” he told Cheapflights. “If they vote to strike, it will ultimately be their members’ jobs that are lost.”

Would you support a British Airways strike? Vote in our online poll in the adjacent sidebar.

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