British Airways pilot strike on 27th September is called off in a bizarre BALPA move

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• Ian M says:

  18 Sep18 September 19:12

  Hoping BA do reinstate flights, I want to fly back to London on 27th!

• Bonglim says:

  18 Sep18 September 19:27

  I agree – brilliant decision:
  1 – Public opinion not so negative on the pilots (and how they ruined everyone’s holidays)
  2 – Pilots avoid strike fatigue (it must cost them a fair amount to miss a day of work)
  3 – It still costs BA shed loads of money.

  And it is very repeatable – BA don’t cancel everyone and they are on the hook for EU payments. BA do cancel everyone and they still have to pay everyone’s wages.
  BA could ‘lock out’ the pilots (I think) – I am basing that 100% on US sports strikes, so don’t quote me. But that would cost them lot in the negotiations and PR war.

• Nick says:

  18 Sep18 September 19:28

  ‘Responsible’ my arse, this is calculated and devious, designed to cause the maximum headache and cost to BA at minimum expense to pilots. I’ve got to hand it to them, this is very clever.

  Also BALPA were caught out last week by the 20% of pilots who did report for work on strike days, far higher than the union had expected. If that held this time, their hand would be weakened. So they played a good card upfront instead.

  I’m thinking of investing in a popcorn company.

• Anna says:

  18 Sep18 September 19:52

  I am sympathetic to the pilots but why does this only work one way? If the pilots can legally hold a strike by giving a certain amount of notice, they should also give up any entitlement to return to work and be paid on that date unless with the agreement of the employer. Simply using the law to mess employers about trivialises hard-won industrial rights.

• TGLoyalty says:

  18 Sep18 September 20:24

  Have to be honest while some of you think this will effect BA having been at JFK on the 10th all but one flight left and the planes were a long way from empty.

  Think the flights that were cancelled will be reinstated and lots of people will go back to their original plans as if it never happened. Or bag themselves a bargain on a plane with light loads

  • Steve Jeness says:

    18 Sep18 September 20:43

    The strike applied to any pilot reporting for duty in London on the 9/10th. A flight leaving JFK on10th and arriving in London on 11th was never part of the strike timings. 24 hours earlier was a very different story in JFK!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      18 Sep18 September 21:05

      Except all the flights were originally cancelled then reinstated two days later.

      • Robbie says:

        18 Sep18 September 21:47

        You’re talking rubbish. Strikes applied only to BA pilots reporting for duty on the 9th and 10th at LHR. So i don’t know what reinstated flights you’re on about. The whole airline was grounded for two days at LHR. 1 BA HND flight and that was it. Other handful were wet leased.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          18 Sep18 September 23:14

          Well I’m most certainly not talking rubbish as my flight leaving JFK and all other on the 10th were cancelled on the Friday of mass cancellations (and I mean cancelled with a proper strike through on MMB not just a phantom email.)

          I know on flyertalk many people did rearrange between Friday and Sunday when I had confirmation my flight actually wasn’t cancelled and therefore reinstated on MMB.

          So while which pilots were out on strike on not on whichever days is an interesting side note my actual point is that for 48 hours every passenger on those flights thought their flight was cancelled. Lots would have called to rebook, some may have taken a refund, some business folk may have decided to use their right on fully flexible tickets. Yet come the day of the 10th many of them were still completely full because 7 days is a lot of time when it comes to people flying all over the world on one of the biggest names around.

• Doug M says:

  18 Sep18 September 20:28

  We’ll see how this plays out, I don’t think this is as structured and clever as many do. I think the pilots are starting to bottle it. Time will tell.

  • BJ says:

    18 Sep18 September 21:08

    🙂 Seriously, bottling it after only two days? Do you think they’ve got a collective bladder infection?

    • Doug M says:

      19 Sep19 September 09:37

      Let’s see what happens.

• Lady London says:

  18 Sep18 September 21:51

  It’s weak. They’ve lost their “bottle”.

  Either that, or their so-far excellent communications person, is on holiday this week.

  Or “I’m not sure that BALPA even realises that it has put British Airways in a tricky … situation”. Perhaps it’s all a bit more Machiavellian, and they do.

  I for one was disgusted to see a comment that BA was rostering 5 lots of pilots onto the same now non-existent SFO flight on the strike on 9th and 10th, just so they could dock the pay of 5* the pilots that would have been needed, for 5 days which is apparently what the trip is normally paid for a pilot who does it.

  If it’s within 2 weeks of the was-to-be-strike date and BA has cancelled flights and got planes in wrong position around the world, tough if that’s the tactics they;ve been using against the pilots. That, and trying to remove travel privileges which are custom and practice (this won’t stand up if challenged in court, because plenty of rich investment banks tried to remove non-contractual benefits and lost in court).

• Unsavage gerbil says:

  18 Sep18 September 22:12

  BALPA look reasonable in the eyes of the public by cancelling strike, BA look bad, cancellations cost BA loads, eating into profits and eroding customer confidence in BA.

  It’s a long game this.

  Wait until November, possible ten day strike in the offing, after which BA will fold and give in.

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