Thousands facing misery at airports in biggest BA strike
THOUSANDS of passengers face airport chaos as the biggest strike in the history of British Airways was due to get under way today.
The majority of the 1,600 flights operating from Heathrow and Gatwick are being grounded.
An estimated 240,000 passengers affected have been urged not to turn up at the airports during the 48-hour action.
Bosses have warned that any pilots who take part will be stripped of perks worth thousands of pounds, which include discounted tickets for relatives.
Members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action after a proposed pay rise offer of 11.5 per cent over three years was rejected.
British Airways has tried to transfer passengers booked on strike-hit flights to other services – either on other days or those of around 50 other carriers.
One-day strike action is also planned for September 27.
Balpa said the strikes were a “last resort” borne out of “enormous frustration” with airline management.
But the company, where on average a flight captain is paid £167,000 plus £16,000 in allowances, pointed out that the deal has been accepted by other unions.
A spokesman said: “We’re extremely sorry for the problems caused by the strike action called by the pilots’ union, Balpa, on 9, 10 and 27 September.
“We proposed an offer of 11.5 per cent over three years to Balpa, a deal already accepted by members of the Unite and GMB unions, which represent 90 per cent of British Airways’ staff, a deal which we believe is fair.”
All 4,300 pilots were emailed on Friday and warned that taking part in the walkout would be a “serious breach” of employment contracts and they would lose the travel perk for three years.
There are only two routes where flights are unaffected by the action – Gatwick to New York JFK, which is operated by a third-party, and an inbound service from Sydney via Singapore.