British Airways BA Strike dates announced

[Keith]

The thing that annoys me is surely they will be getting a new contract every 12 months or so- If they agree to a wage then they shouldn't go on strike when they find they want more money/better working conditions.

It's pretty awful actually given the economy, ba agreed a rather frugal deal with ground staff, pilots etc so as to safeguard the company's future. They all agreed it, all was good, comes to the selfish cabin crew and they want more than their colleagues!

Then they harranged people who didnt want to strike and so on. They were told if they continued that they'd lose some brilliant benefits like flying wherever the heck they like for next to nothing. Now they want all those benefits back.

I truly hope BA stick to their guns or they'll be going on strike all the time to get whatever they want and we'll all be paying stupidly high flight prices to support it!

[Britchick]

I'm not totally against strikes but I think this really takes the biscuit. We're all having to make sacrifices at the moment due to the state of the economy and there are many more to come especially in the public sector. Their main argument I think is that they are doing more work for the same money as they have lost some numbers on a flight. Well welcome to the real world you find me one person that has not had to put in more hours, work harder etc.

[Britchick]

Letter from Willie Walsh to Executive Club Members


Dear Mrs ,

As you are undoubtedly aware, Unite, the trade union that represents British Airways' cabin crew has announced further strike action.

I wanted to update you on the situation and thank you for your continued loyalty and support.

We were saddened but not surprised that Unite has announced plans for strikes that span 23 days including the May bank holiday and half term. I can assure you that this action will not ground British Airways.

Unite officials continue to show a callous disregard for our customers. A small minority act as if they want to destroy BA and the jobs of thousands of their colleagues. And just when the UK economy needs help to get back on its feet, Unite will deal it another blow.

The offer on the table is very fair. It includes a guaranteed pay rise for the next two years, meets the union's concerns on crewing levels, access to routes and maintains a standard of living that reflects the value and service our cabin crew deliver to our customers.

During the last two periods of industrial action, thousands of staff from across the airline, including volunteers, kept British Airways flying and we flew more than half a million customers to their destinations.

We are confident that many cabin crew will again ignore Unite's pointless strike call and support the efforts of the rest of the airline.

On the strike dates we will operate all London Gatwick and London City services. At Heathrow we plan to operate a substantial part of our longhaul schedule. There will also be a number of daily flights to every destination across our shorthaul network.

We are talking to other airlines about leasing in extra aircraft to support our shorthaul schedule and we will buy thousands of seats from other airlines to help our customers rebook if their original flight is cancelled.

I fully appreciate that information is critical during such a period so we will regularly update ba.com with details of our revised schedule and options available.

Your support, patience and understanding during the recent months have been invaluable and I would like to thank you in advance for your continued loyalty in support of our business.

Yours sincerely,



Willie Walsh

[Dawn]

BA cabin crew are already the best paid over all the UK airlines. Greedy little *****