I was in BA last week and their were employee demonstrations against aerolineas going on. At the same time, they dropped service to a number of destinations, including NY and LA. The real point is that, if one needs to fly on a particular date, the odds of disruption are very high. It's similar to buying a restricted ticket on a US airline in the face of a strike deadline. It may work out, but if it doesn't, you can have great difficulty and/or cost in rebooking.