BA strike disarray affects thousands

BRITISH Airways was forced to apologise yesterday after wrongly telling customers their flights were cancelled.

It came after tens of thousands of holidaymakers’ plans were thrown into disarray when pilots confirmed they will strike for three days in September.

The airline sent emails to some passengers with flights on non-strike days advising them to rebook or get a refund. But it later emerged that the flights had not actually been cancelled and the emails had been sent in “error”.

A BA spokesman said the company was “sorry for any confusion and inconvenience this has caused”.

Passengers described the situation as a “complete mess” and complained they had unnecessarily spent extra money booking new flights.

Within hours of the British Airline Pilots’ Association’s (Balpa) announcement on Friday, BA sent out the emails warning flights on Sept 9, 10 and 27 would be hit by a “large number of delays and cancellations”.

BA’s customer service lines were jammed as travellers tried to make alternative arrangements. BA’s Twitter profile was also inundated with messages from frustrated customers, with some complaining they would miss weddings and honeymoons.

Customers affected began receiving emails that read: “We are very sorry to tell you that due to industrial action by British Airways’ pilots union, Balpa, your flight has been cancelled.”

Peter Dempsey, 41, said his family could be forced to pay hundreds of pounds for alternative flights for a wedding in Seville, in southern Spain.

“We cannot move the dates,” said Mr Dempsey, who flies out on Sept 5. “We have no option but to completely cancel and rebook or they won’t refund.”

Mr Dempsey described the service since the announcement as “shocking”, adding that BA “clearly don’t have enough people to handle such a crisis”. Others complained about a four-week wait for refunds and said bookings on flights were still listed for sale online.

A BA spokesman said: “We will do everything we can to get as many people away on their journeys as possible. However, it is likely that many of our customers will not be able to travel and we will be offering refunds and rebookings for cancelled flights.”

It said flights with BA CityFlyer, SunAir and Comair were not affected and it was “exploring options to supplement our fleet by using aircraft and crew from other airlines”.

Alex Cruz, chief executive, said pilots had been offered an “incredible, inflation-busting deal” that would take a captain’s pay to over £200,000 a year.

Balpa said 93 per cent of members voted in favour of the action after rejecting a pay rise of 11.5 per cent over three years. It is estimated that about 4,000 pilots will walk out over three days of action that will cost £120million. It added: “Our ballot is valid until January, and more dates may be announced until this matter is resolved.”