British Airways pilots will strike on September 9, 10 and 27 in a dispute over pay, union Balpa announced.
In a statement, Balpa said it submitted number of packages to the airline over the past few days in an attempt to resolve the matter without a strike - but claims
British Airways did not accept them.
“It is clear following discussions with members over the last few days that BA’s most recent offer will not gain the support of anywhere near a majority of its pilots,” the statement read.
“In these circumstances, with a 93% vote in favour of taking industrial action, and with no prospect of any further meaningful talks, we have no choice but to call this action”.
The union said that a day of strike action will cost British Airways around £40 million with three days amounting to around £120 million. Stating that the gap between BA’s position and BALPA’s position is about £5m, the union said its proposal “remains on the table” should BA wish to reach agreement prior to strike action.
“British Airways is an extremely profitable and successful company, and pilots have been proud to play their part in that. In 2018 the company announced profits of £2 billion,” Balpa said.
“Over recent years BA pilots have made sacrifice after sacrifice to assist the company such as taking a pay cut, productivity increases, closing the final salary pension scheme, giving up annual leave days, a new rostering system, and reducing flying pay.
“In what is British Airways’ centenary year, this will be the very first time its pilots will go on strike. They do so as a last resort and with enormous frustration at the way the business is now being run”.
More strike dates may be announced until the matter is resolved, the union says.
British Airways, however, has slammed the planned strike action and said it is making schedule changes to “get as many people away on their journeys as possible”.
“It is completely unacceptable that Balpa is destroying the travel plans of tens of thousands of our customers with this unjustifiable strike action,” a spokesperson said.
“We are extremely sorry that after many months of negotiations, based on a very fair offer, Balpa has decided on this reckless course of action.
“However, it is likely that many of our customers will not be able to travel and we will be offering refunds and re-bookings for passengers booked on cancelled flights.”Related... Some Seats On The New British Airways Planes Do Not Recline, So Pick Your Row Carefully