Mon, Mar 22, 2010
Union And Airline Give Opposing Views
BA says they have been able to
operate all of their planned flights from Heathrow and Gatwick and
reinstated some of longhaul services because more crew than
expected have reported for work. On March 12, Unite, the
union that represents BA cabin crew, announced strike dates of
20,21, 22 and 27,28,29 and 30 March 2010.
The first strike period began Saturday with BA planning to
operate 60 per cent of their normal flights. Unite is
reporting a cripling of the airline during the first strike in 13
years, while BA says things are going better than expected.
"We've had a great turnout in Gatwick--incredible! Every single
cabin crew rostered to fly today has come to work," said Willie
Walsh, CEO of British Airways in a video posted to the BA
website. He reports around 50 per cent of cabin crew have
reported as normal at Heathrow. "They're voting with their
feet," says Walsh.
BA says it plans to reinstate eight longhaul return flights, six
of which will also operate Sunday and Monday and a further 18
shorthaul flights for Sunday across Heathrow and Gatwick. BA
is now working to sell seats on these flights as quickly as
possible.
Unite is calling BA's Terminal 5 at
Heathrow a "ghost town" and included the following statements on
their website:
- 85 BA planes were parked at Heathrow By lunchtime Saturday,
consuming the maximum parking space allowed for BA aircraft
- 20 more planes had been moved to Cardiff to be parked, and a
further 20 flown to Shannon, in western Ireland, to sit out the
strike
- On average only 14 passengers are travelling on those flights
which are taking off, far short of capacity
- 2 strike-breaking chartered flights did not depart because of
technical problems
- 113 BA passengers had complained about the poor quality of food
on-board the flights by mid-morning around
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