British Airways has cancelled almost all its flights as a result of the strike embarked upon by pilot Union, Balpa who are protesting and demanding a pay rise.
In a statement released on Monday, after notifying customers of the impending strike, British Airways said:
“no way of predicting how many (pilots) would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly.”
As a result, it said it had “no option but to cancel nearly 100%” of its flights.
The report by Associated Press (AP) stated that British Airways assured that it stands ready to return to talks with pilots’ union Balpa and that it is offering affected customers full refunds or the option to rebook.
British Airways in their statement, added that: “We understand the frustration and disruption Balpa’s strike action has caused our customers. After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this.”
The Airline also said that they have offered pilots a pay rise of 11.5% over three years but the union says its members want a bigger share of the company’s profits.
The union accuses British Airways of making massive profits at the expense of workers who made sacrifices during hard times. A further strike is pencilled in for September 27th 2019.
Union leader Brian Strutton said pilots are determined to be heard.
“They’ve previously taken big pay cuts to help the company through hard times. Now BA is making billions of pounds of profit, its pilots have made a fair, reasonable and affordable claim for pay and benefits.”
BA operates up to 850 flights a day. The company said it understands the frustration of passengers affected by the strike.
London’s sprawling Heathrow Airport will be the most impacted by the work stoppage as it is BA’s major hub and used for many of the company’s long-haul international flights, AP had reported.