BA Reinstates More Cancelled Flights
11:49pm UK, Saturday March 20, 2010
Sky News comprehends that British Airways is reinstating more flights for Sunday and Monday as cabin crew turn up for work.
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Correspondent Mark White stated 11 long-haul services and several short-haul flights were being brought back.
BA claims 1,157 cabin crew chose to ignore the call to strike and reported for duty as normal at Heathrow and Gatwick airports – representing 97% of Gatwick crew reporting to work and 52.5% of Heathrow crew.
Earlier, Sky News obtained an internal operational note from British Airways which claimed that half of the airline’s cabin crew expected to strike had turned up for duty.
As a result, the airline stated it was reinstating some short and long-haul flights in the days ahead.
In a video statement, BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh stated contingency plans had worked better than expected and cabin crews were “voting with their feet” in turning up for work.
In contrast, the union Unite insisted that 80% of its 12,000 members had supported the first day of the three-day walkout.
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BA cabin crew started their walkout at midnight after speaks to try to end the bitter dispute over cost slicing collapsed.
The airline stated it had put in place its biggest ever contingency plan to try to get 65% passengers to their destinations despite having to cancel 1,100 flights.
The airline is operating all flights to and from London City airport and all long-haul flights to and from Gatwick airport.
It planned to run 50% of its short-haul Gatwick services, about 60% of its Heathrow long-haul services and about 30% of its Heathrow short-haul flights.
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A spokeswoman said: “At Heathrow and Gatwick we have got off to a good start. London City is operating as normal.
“Cabin crew are reporting as normal at Gatwick and the numbers reporting at Heathrow are above the levels we need to operate our published schedule.”
In contrast, Unite claimed a number of planes were starting to stack up at airports, including 85 parked planes at Heathrow, 20 at Cardiff and 20 in Shannon.
BA has arranged with more than 60 other airlines to take its customers on their flights.
Cabin crew staff make their voices heard on picket lines at Heathrow
While some passengers whose flights have been canceled are traveling on other carriers, others have arranged to fly with BA at a later date and some have opted for a refund.
Sky sources stated the carrier has estimated that more than 100,000 passengers have canceled their tickets since the strike dates were announced at a cost to the airline of £27m.
Picket lines were mounted at various entrances to Heathrow.
One flight attendant at Heathrow, talking anonymously, said: “The morale here is fantastic and the public support is tremendous with everyone hooting their horns.”
Sky News reporter Enda Brady stated Heathrow was “extremely quiet” with “hardly any passengers”.
At Gatwick, Sky News producer Anna Catherine Jones, flying to France on a non-BA flight, said: “I’ve been flying out of here for 20 years and it’s the quietest it’s ever been.”
The public appears to be equally divided over its support and opposition for the strike.
Commenting on Twitter, Andy Derrick wrote: “BA bosses are trying to ride roughshod over workers by forcing them into this strike.”
And Will McCaffrey tweeted: “I hope British Airways begin a wave of mass redundancies for its cabin crew, due to lost revenue from all these strikes.”
BA made record losses of £401m in the 2008/9 financial year and a record loss of £292m for the six months to the end of last September.
A four-day stoppage is also set to begin on March 27, with further action expected from mid-April unless the deadlock is broken.
Unite’s deputy general secretary Len McCluskey told Sky News he was disappointed that negotiations had failed and accused BA of a “heavy handed approach”.
“It’s obviously a sad day, no one wanted to get to this position, certainly not our cabin crew, but the response has been magnificent,” he said.
“We’ve stated to BA that this can only be resolved through negotiation, not through intimidation, confrontation or litigation.”
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