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LHR/LGW pilots (BALPA) industrial action 9 Sep, 10 Sep, and 27 Sep

Old Jul 20, 2019, 3:27 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
Quick answers to FAQ:

Help! What do I do now?
Most importantly, don't panic and don't do anything in haste. Read these FAQ. Read the thread, particularly the posts starting from the time that the strike dates were announced. Identify your options. Think about what works for you. Then take action. If you do anything in haste, you may have thrown away good options, or you may have thrown away money that you needn't have spent.

NOTE: Some emails have been sent out by mistake notifying the cancellation of flights on 8 September and other dates. If your booking still looks OK in MMB then you don't need to take further action. A cancelled flight should be shown in MMB with struck-through text. If your flight details are not struck through, then it probably hasn't actually been cancelled. You could check ba.com to see whether BA is still taking reservations for the flight in question. If so, then the flight has not been cancelled. You may also try checking on ExpertFlyer, if you have access, to see whether your flight appears still to be operating and whether BA is still taking reservations. However, some afternoon/evening flights on 8 September have genuinely been cancelled. See main thread for details.

Has a strike been called yet?
Yes. BALPA, the pilots' union, has voted in favour of strike action, and the Court of Appeal has rejected BA's submission to have the poll set aside, so the legal process is now over. The two parties went back into talks after the legal proceedings and those talks were expected to continue into the week of 5 August.

BALPA on 23 Aug announced strikes on Monday 9 September Tuesday 10 September and Friday 27 September.

Any further strikes normally require 2 weeks notice under UK legislation.

What flights may be affected?
LHR and LGW based flights. Not LCY or STN flights. Both cabin and flight crew are in dispute with BA, but the pilots (captains, senior first officers, first officers) are closest to strike action.

How long would a strike last?
The initial strikes are for two days the a single day, with normal working in between. Any other strikes could be of any length. It would be rare in the UK for there to be a full time strike.

What would happen to my flights if it is a strike day?
A range of options have been announced, see post 1551 below for more information: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...l#post31451055

and BA Trade Site guidance here: https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...kba?faqid=7594

Rebooking is now allowed on Iberia, AA, Finnair, JAL and Qatar. Within Europe EI and Vueling are also allowed. This is for both revenue and redemption flights.

and the FAQ on BA.com here (this includes information on BA Holidays bookings which are substantially different): https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...st-information

Can I do anything with an existing booking now?
Yes. Your options are different depending on whether your flights are currently showing as cancelled or not. See the links above.

What about Heathrow staff - aren't their strikes planned there too?
Yes there is a separate dispute at the moment between Heathrow Airport (HAL) and their staff such as those who operate the security checkpoints. See the separate thread on the issue.

Am I protected by EC261 if there is a problem?
You are always covered by the Right to Care provisions of Regulation EC261. You could potentially be able to claim compensation for delays, cancellations and downgrades caused by BA staff action too, but not for HAL strikes (for cancellations only if there is flight is less than 14 days notice). See the main EC261 thread in the BA Forum Dashboard.
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LHR/LGW pilots (BALPA) industrial action 9 Sep, 10 Sep, and 27 Sep

Old Aug 23, 2019, 11:12 am
  #1381  
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Originally Posted by Never Stansted
.. If the pilots want a profit share they should buy IAG shares.
No, they should be appropriately incentivised.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 11:15 am
  #1382  
 
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Originally Posted by richardwft

No, they should be appropriately incentivised.
With the amazing alternative employment on offer at FR and U2?
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 11:18 am
  #1383  
 
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Originally Posted by Never Stansted


With the amazing alternative employment on offer at FR and U2?
Two of my relatives just turned down BA job offers to remain ay U2 as the terms and conditions are significantly better.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 11:19 am
  #1384  
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Originally Posted by Never Stansted


With the amazing alternative employment on offer at FR and U2?
The world is often their oyster.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 11:26 am
  #1385  
 
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Originally Posted by rapidex
Two of my relatives just turned down BA job offers to remain ay U2 as the terms and conditions are significantly better.
Even better then. Its a market; if U2 is a better place to work, work there. And if BA cant recruit because everyone else is paying more, theyll put salaries up. The age of strikes in well paid service industries like tube drivers and pilots needs bringing to an unlamented end.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 11:46 am
  #1386  
 
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Originally Posted by rapidex
The CAA got themselves in a lot of hot water with the Europeans last time. I cant see it happening again with the way Boris is running around.
Well, QR has been dry-leasing A330s to Air Italy for a year now and, at a certain point, even some A320 wet lease without too much of a hassle.

The question is price. QR is charging market rates to Air Italy and they basically own them. In this situation, in this market, ACMIs will be holding the knife by the handle. They'll charge their own price.

Originally Posted by Never Stansted


With the amazing alternative employment on offer at FR and U2?
There's a lot of demand from Chinese airlines. A mate of mine, left unemployed by Wow air's sudden demise, now flies 330s for one of the Chinese big 3s (China Southern I believe). 2 weeks in, 2 weeks out, paid tickets home, great package. Considering these sort of things and the fact that BA has, as of last year, all but killed its cadet programme I believe they'll come to regret the decision. Add to that the uncertainty about European (based here or commuting) pilots...
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 11:47 am
  #1387  
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Originally Posted by Never Stansted


Even better then. Its a market; if U2 is a better place to work, work there. And if BA cant recruit because everyone else is paying more, theyll put salaries up. The age of strikes in well paid service industries like tube drivers and pilots needs bringing to an unlamented end.
Nope. BA should match other airlines offerings. The right to strike is fundamental and must continue, anything else is just going backwards.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 11:47 am
  #1388  
 
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Having lived in two communist countries nobody can accuse me of being a Corbynista, but I am happy to see BALPA put their foot down. I hope the strike goes ahead, costing BA millions and making sure senior management lose their bonuses.

To paraphrase a rather famous German priest: First they came for the pilots
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 12:19 pm
  #1389  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Originally Posted by Never Stansted


Even better then. Its a market; if U2 is a better place to work, work there. And if BA cant recruit because everyone else is paying more, theyll put salaries up. The age of strikes in well paid service industries like tube drivers and pilots needs bringing to an unlamented end.
Now that the strike has been called, and people are coming to this thread for information on what to do, can we keep this sort of political commentary off the thread?
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 1:09 pm
  #1390  
 
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Originally Posted by 13901
Well, QR has been dry-leasing A330s to Air Italy for a year now and, at a certain point, even some A320 wet lease without too much of a hassle.

The question is price. QR is charging market rates to Air Italy and they basically own them. In this situation, in this market, ACMIs will be holding the knife by the handle. They'll charge their own price.



There's a lot of demand from Chinese airlines. A mate of mine, left unemployed by Wow air's sudden demise, now flies 330s for one of the Chinese big 3s (China Southern I believe). 2 weeks in, 2 weeks out, paid tickets home, great package. Considering these sort of things and the fact that BA has, as of last year, all but killed its cadet programme I believe they'll come to regret the decision. Add to that the uncertainty about European (based here or commuting) pilots...
Dry leases are fine. Wet lease is a whole different ball game.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 1:20 pm
  #1391  
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Originally Posted by Can I help you
There will be no space at LHR and LGW to park the grounded aircraft so I would expect very few to be operated back even if there are crew and aircraft down route to operate them.
I understand the logic, but there are many other factors to take into account for longhaul planes.
BA has not been in this position for a very long time, but I see what other airlines are doing and they find some adhoc solutions. Typically they prefer to get their LH birds and pax back as soon as possible. Voluntarily stranding a plane, crew and pax incurs heavy costs. Will be interesting to see how many X-LHR LH flights they operate on 9th.
EDIT: I can see that they have already cancelled a lot of LH X-LHR on the 9th. So you were right.
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Last edited by brunos; Aug 23, 2019 at 1:39 pm
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 1:23 pm
  #1392  
 
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Originally Posted by brunos
I understand the logic, but there are many other factors to take into account for longhaul planes.
BA has not been in this position for a very long time, but I see what other airlines are doing and they find some adhoc solutions. Typically they prefer to get their LH birds and pax back as soon as possible. Voluntarily stranding a plane, crew and pax incurs heavy costs.
If BA tries to bring them back and aircraft are forced to divert as in the IT meltdown the problems will only be compounded. BA were calling for volunteers to sort that mess out. They wont get any this time.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 1:27 pm
  #1393  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Originally Posted by Ancient Observer
On Cruz being stubborn.
Notice the words and feeling expressed in the two Press Notices.

BA sound angry. Annoyed. (Probably because their bonus payments will be impacted). Whoever wrote it, and whoever approved it have clearly lost their rags. Beyond intemperate. They should be fired.

BALPA sound the height of reasonableness and common sense..
Not really, this has been BA's stance and message tonality from the off.

That release does read a bit like a draft because, well, it probably is, readied however long ago, leading with the anger rather than the important facts in first para.

BA is annoyed. To some degree it should be. To another it should just pay its staff - but this it will see as difficult, because bend to the pilots and you'll have cabin crew (rightfully, given the wages) striking within months of that. Slippery slope.

The company is in a difficult position. Its PR message has to be one that reflects what the general public will feel, not the frequent flyers with more knowledge of the industry. It's the right line to take, PR wise, irrelevant of moral grounds.

BALPA's tactic is to prove what mayhem occurs within two days of striking, giving BA two weeks thereafter to reassess its position and call off the 27th. I commend BALPA for not hitting the summer holidays, as it could have. I also commend it for striking at the heart of BA's 100 year anniversary.

PR works both ways; the Union, unusually, has been more subtle about it in this instance, because it's a tarnish on the airline. No bank holiday sales, oh no, just headlines showing that, with this management at the helm, it's at its lowest point.

Shame it had to be this way. But the ball is in BA's court and it has the tools (read: cashflow) to fix this.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 1:35 pm
  #1394  
 
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Originally Posted by Jagboi
Given how tight supply of leasing aircraft is, with the 737 grounding, would the CAA allow aircraft to be leased from outside Europe to break a strike (I.e. Qatar)? I can't see that happening, but I'm happy to be corrected.
Did last time. And as Qatar has issues with neighbours, it has spare craft, I believe.
Strong chance this and (not so good) Titan Air will be the fillers.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 1:35 pm
  #1395  
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Originally Posted by brunos
I understand the logic, but there are many other factors to take into account for longhaul planes.
BA has not been in this position for a very long time, but I see what other airlines are doing and they find some adhoc solutions. Typically they prefer to get their LH birds and pax back as soon as possible. Voluntarily stranding a plane, crew and pax incurs heavy costs. Will be interesting to see how many X-LHR LH flights they operate on 9th.
Personally Im hoping that nothing flys and the pilots stick together, the more united they are the quicker the dispute will come to an end.
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