Thousands of passengers affected and millions lost .. Learn about the consequences of strike pilots British Airways

British Airways on Monday canceled almost all its flights as a result of a 48-hour strike by its pilots over wages.

The airline, part of the Spanish-British International Airlines Group (IIG), canceled 1,700 flights to and from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports on Monday and Tuesday, ahead of a strike by the British Airways Consortium, the first ever strike by pilots. Company.

"We have no other option but to cancel about 100% of our flights," the airline said in a statement.

She explained that she had to take this action in the absence of any information from the Pilots Association (British Pilots Authority) on the number of participants in the strike.

The company's chief executive Alex Cruz told BBC television he regretted the actions taken by the pilots' union.

"This is certainly a subjective goal, which will punish customers, our brand and other colleagues," he said.

AIG shares fell more than 2% in early trading today.

The company has offered an 11.5% increase in pilots 'salaries over three years, which it said would raise its top-paid pilots' income from £ 167,000 ($ 205,000), plus allowances worth £ 16,000,000, to just over 200,000. The average income of its pilots is around £ 90,000 a year.

losses
The pilots' union demands that the pay package include a share of the profits. "British Airways is in good times. We want to share these profits and share the pain in difficult times," Brian Strutton, secretary general of the British Airways Pilots Association, told BBC television.

93% of the union's pilots, about 4,000 pilots, voted for the strike.

For its part, the company offered to the affected passengers to recover the price of tickets or reschedule their flights to another date.

The company estimated the strike would affect 195,000 passengers (roughly 100,000 passengers a day).

British Airways operates around 850 flights a day, which means that the decision to cancel flights will affect very large numbers of passengers.

The Association of British Airways pilots said the cost of a strike day was estimated at 40 million pounds ($ 49 million).

Heathrow, one of the world's largest airports, was on Monday morning away from the traffic normally seen at the start of the week. The fifth building used by British Airways was usually unaffected in cafes or taxi lines in the absence of passengers.

In contrast, the business district's preferred airport, London City Airport, will not be affected because its flights are operated by a British Airways subsidiary.