British Airways, which has just celebrated its 100th anniversary with great fanfare, is preparing for the first pilots 'strike in its history, according to the British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa). About 93% of its 4,300 pilots will strike Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th September, forcing the British airline to cancel almost all of its flights.
"We have no choice but to cancel almost 100% of our flights," the carrier said in a statement. The strike is likely to affect tens of thousands of travelers as the company operates around 850 flights a day in the UK, largely from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
British Airways had already warned its customers that they could probably not be able to travel Monday given the scale of the strike. The company, owned by the Spanish-British group IAG, which also includes Spain's Iberia and Ireland's Aer Lingus, has offered travelers refunds or reservations on flights on other dates.
Negotiations on rising wages failed
The British Airways pilots union has decided to disengage after the failure of negotiations on wage increases. According to Balpa, the pilots have made "sacrifices" in recent years and should benefit more from the good results of the company.
The union rejected several offers, including a proposal to increase wages by 11.5% over three years. Thursday evening, the leaders of the emblematic company have rejected a last offer of Balpa who proposed to give up the strike in exchange for a resumption of negotiations. British Airways, which distributes an average of 100,000 pounds (about € 111,000) in annual salary to confirmed pilots, according to Balpa, "pays well and offers good working conditions".
On his Twitter account, Balpa explained Sunday that, according to his calculations, a day of strike will cost the company 40 million pounds (44 million euros). A figure to compare according to the union with what the pilots claim, the difference between what management offers on wages and what they ask for not exceeding 5 million pounds. "Why is not she working with us to end this conflict?" Asked Balpa.
One day of strike action will cost BA, on their own figures, £ 40m. The difference between us now is 5m. Why will not we work with this argument? #BAstrike
(2/2)
With AFP