British Airways Reveals the Financial Impact of September Strikes

Offering its guidance on the 2019 financial year, International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways (BA), has revealed the impact that recent strikes have had on the carrier. However, in a rebuttal, BALPA has warned BA not to implicate its pilots for these financial results.

In the full year 2019 guidance update, International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways (BA), has revealed the full impact of recent strikes by the airline’s pilots. It confirmed that, over the course of September, strikes by members of the British Airlines Pilots’ Association (BALPA)–the body which represents the majority of BA pilots – resulted in 4,521 flights being canceled over a seven-day period.

Laying out the monetary cost of these strikes, IAG explained, “The net financial impact of the industrial action is estimated to be €137 ($150) million. In addition, there were further disruption events affecting British Airways in the quarter, including threatened strikes by Heathrow Airport employees, which had a further net financial impact of €33 ($36) million.”

“Clearly any further industrial action will additionally impact IAG’s full year 2019 operating profit,” it added, stating that its offer of an 11.5 pay raise over three years “still stands”.

However, BALPA called BA’s take on the situation “disingenuous”.

There have been no additional talks between the two sides, but speaking out about the current situation in a statement, BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said, “This is proof that BA’s intransigence towards its pilots is economic madness. Their total disengagement is evidence of a senior management team that has lost the plot and doesn’t know how to resolve their dispute with their pilots.”