British Airways’ cabin crew plan four-day walkout
British Airways Boeing 787-9
Rob Finlayson
Cabin crews at International Airlines Group’s British Airways (BA) are to stage a four-day strike June 16-19 as part of an ongoing pay dispute.
The London Heathrow-based crew members, represented by the Unite union, said they are protesting against BA’s refusal to restore flight concessions to staff that participated in an earlier walkout.
In addition, the union is trying to secure a pay raise for the BA “mixed fleet,” made up of crew members who joined BA after 2010. Unite estimates that on average mixed fleet cabin crew earn £16,000 ($20,615), including allowances, a year.
The strike will run from 00:01 on Friday, June 16 until 23:59 hours on Monday, June 19.
Unite assistant general secretary for legal services Howard Beckett said the two sides are close to a conclusion in the pay dispute, but he added: “Punishing staff for using legitimate industrial means to reach a wage deal is a culture that Unite cannot accept and a culture that will ultimately damage the BA brand. Allow us to settle this dispute, remove the sanctions and let’s move on.”
The workers have staged a total of 26 strike days since the beginning of January, forcing BA to wet lease aircraft and cancel flights.
BA responded to the action, saying: “As on the previous dates when Unite called strikes of mixed fleet cabin crew, we will fly all our customers to their destinations. Strike action is completely unnecessary. We had reached a deal on pay, which Unite’s national officers agreed was acceptable. We urge Unite to put the pay proposals to a vote of their members.”
This latest disruption comes on top of a recent major IT outage that grounded BA’s fleet across the world.
Worse than Aeroflot! BA faces fresh humiliation as carrier is set to lose its four-star quality rating
British Airways is expected to be stripped of its coveted four-star quality rating after being accused of providing a worse service than Aeroflot.
In a new humiliation, the boss of research firm Skytrax said Britain's flagship carrier now compares unfavourably with the state-backed Russian airline, once known for having an appalling safety record, inedible food and rude staff.
Skytrax said it is likely to cut BA's rating to three stars out of five, bringing it in line with budget airline Ryanair, Uzbekistan Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, and Myanmar Airways.
The move comes hard on the heels of last week's IT shutdown which grounded flights and resulted in passengers being stranded across the world.
Britain's flagship carrier British Airways, pictured, now compares unfavourably with the state-backed Russian airline Aeroflot +2
BA has been widely accused of becoming more like a budget airline under chief executive Alex Cruz, despite typically charging significantly higher fares.
It sparked a passenger backlash by ditching free snacks and drinks on short-haul services, planning to cut leg room on some flights and slashing perks for business class.
There have also been complaints of BA regularly running out of food on board. Edward Plaisted, chief executive of Skytrax, told The Sunday Times: 'In many cases they (BA) don't meet a four-star standard'.
He said Aeroflot - which is 51 per cent owned by the Russian government - has better in-flight catering and better service.
He described Aeroflot as a 'shining example of an airline that's transformed themselves' - compared with BA, which 'has not invested in the same way'.
BA, which once used the slogan 'the world's favourite airline', has had four stars since the ratings began 18 years ago.
A downgrade to three would see it fall further behind five-star rivals including Etihad and Singapore Airlines.
BA has been widely accused of becoming more like a budget airline under chief executive Alex Cruz, pictured
BA, which faces a four-day strike over pay by cabin crew from June 16, said it was close to announcing improved service and food for Club World passengers as part of a £400million investment.
Critics have claimed that Mr Cruz's ruthless cost-cutting was partly to blame for last week's IT disaster.
Unions blamed the fiasco on a decision to cut hundreds of IT jobs and outsource roles to India, although BA insisted the shutdown was caused by a power supply problem.
Spaniard Mr Cruz, 50, has resisted calls to resign after being accused of spearheading a slow and chaotic response to the crisis.
Although Willie Walsh, boss of BA's parent group IAG, has publicly praised Mr Cruz, there are rumours he could be replaced.
Yesterday it emerged that BA is in talks with Capita over the possibility of outsourcing its call centres in Newcastle and Manchester, which employ around 1,400 staff. BA said no decision has been made.
Worse than Aeroflot! BA faces fresh humiliation as carrier is set to lose its four-star quality rating
- Britain's flagship carrier compares unfavourable with Aeroflot, researchers say
- State-backed Russian airline was known for having an appalling safety record
- BA has been widely accused of becoming more like a budget airline
British Airways is expected to be stripped of its coveted four-star quality rating after being accused of providing a worse service than Aeroflot.
In a new humiliation, the boss of research firm Skytrax said Britain's flagship carrier now compares unfavourably with the state-backed Russian airline, once known for having an appalling safety record, inedible food and rude staff.
Skytrax said it is likely to cut BA's rating to three stars out of five, bringing it in line with budget airline Ryanair, Uzbekistan Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, and Myanmar Airways.
The move comes hard on the heels of last week's IT shutdown which grounded flights and resulted in passengers being stranded across the world.
Britain's flagship carrier British Airways, pictured, now compares unfavourably with the state-backed Russian airline Aeroflot +2
BA has been widely accused of becoming more like a budget airline under chief executive Alex Cruz, despite typically charging significantly higher fares.
It sparked a passenger backlash by ditching free snacks and drinks on short-haul services, planning to cut leg room on some flights and slashing perks for business class.
There have also been complaints of BA regularly running out of food on board. Edward Plaisted, chief executive of Skytrax, told The Sunday Times: 'In many cases they (BA) don't meet a four-star standard'.
He said Aeroflot - which is 51 per cent owned by the Russian government - has better in-flight catering and better service.
He described Aeroflot as a 'shining example of an airline that's transformed themselves' - compared with BA, which 'has not invested in the same way'.
BA, which once used the slogan 'the world's favourite airline', has had four stars since the ratings began 18 years ago.
A downgrade to three would see it fall further behind five-star rivals including Etihad and Singapore Airlines.
BA has been widely accused of becoming more like a budget airline under chief executive Alex Cruz, pictured
BA, which faces a four-day strike over pay by cabin crew from June 16, said it was close to announcing improved service and food for Club World passengers as part of a £400million investment.
Critics have claimed that Mr Cruz's ruthless cost-cutting was partly to blame for last week's IT disaster.
Unions blamed the fiasco on a decision to cut hundreds of IT jobs and outsource roles to India, although BA insisted the shutdown was caused by a power supply problem.
Spaniard Mr Cruz, 50, has resisted calls to resign after being accused of spearheading a slow and chaotic response to the crisis.
Although Willie Walsh, boss of BA's parent group IAG, has publicly praised Mr Cruz, there are rumours he could be replaced.
Yesterday it emerged that BA is in talks with Capita over the possibility of outsourcing its call centres in Newcastle and Manchester, which employ around 1,400 staff. BA said no decision has been made.
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