BA defiant as walkout hits flights

BRITISH AIRWAYS cabin crew began a wave of strikes yesterday, forcing the airline to cancel dozens of flights. Members of the Unite union mounted picket lines near Heathrow for the start of the five-day stoppage, after hopes of resolving the bitter row over jobs and pay collapsed.

BA Strike

The union said the action was ‘strongly supported’. But BA remained defiant, saying 12 of its aircraft would have the slogan ‘keep the flag flying’ painted on them, to underline the message it will continue to fly.

The airline said it ran more than 60 per cent of its long-haul programme and more than 50 per cent of short-haul flights from Heathrow, while services from Gatwick and London City ran as normal.

It said more than 60,000 customers would still travel every day this week. BA had to axe three Heathrow to New York flights yesterday and also one of its Miami services.

Other cancellations included five of the nine Milan flights, four Paris serv-ices, two Madrid flights and some domestic ones, all from Heathrow.

Meanwhile, BA pilots denied claims from cabin crew that a deal could not be done because they objected to travel perks being restored to staff who went on strike in March. ‘It is nonsense to claim pilots are doing anything to prevent a settlement,’ said Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots’ Association.

A spokesman for David Cameron called on ‘the two parties to resolve the situation as soon as possible’. Unite said its offer to suspend the strike if BA fully restored travel perks still stood.

“JOINT Unite boss Derek Simpson was on Twitter again last night talking about watching England at Wembley – just two days after his tweets helped wreck BA strike talks. He tweeted on his BlackBerry: ‘I am at Wembley for England match…It is a first for me!!’ He faces a backlash after his  tweets sparked an invasion of the last-ditch meeting with BA boss Willie Walsh by Socialist Workers Party activists on Saturday.“

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