A three-day strike by British Airways cabin crew is estimated to have cut the carrier's passenger loads on flights from London Heathrow by about 50%. The strike, which started on 9 July, also disrupted operations at other airports, principally Gatwick.
Only about one-third of its own flights departed on the first strike day, BA says, confirming that it wet-leased aircraft for flights, from airlines including Air France, American International Airlines, British World Airlines, Canadian Pacific, Deutsche BA and European Air Charter. Air France supplied an Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde. The airline and the British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association (BASSA) are to restart talks over company plans to save £42 million ($68 million) from its cabin-crew costs. A rival union has already agreed a deal and worked normally throughout the strike. BASSA says it will not call further strikes while talks progress.
At the same time, BA ground-handling workers have voted to strike over company plans to sell its catering operations as part of BA's £1 billion cost-saving plan.
Source: Flight International
