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

Old Jul 20, 2019, 3:27 am
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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 day’s 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 12, 2019, 10:11 am
  #1051  
 
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Anyone here actually in the loop of how the talks are going? Supposed to be flying to Seychelles 31st Aug / 8 Sept I guess those dates are safe for now...
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Old Aug 12, 2019, 10:25 am
  #1052  
 
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Originally Posted by W213Sal
Anyone here actually in the loop of how the talks are going? Supposed to be flying to Seychelles 31st Aug / 8 Sept I guess those dates are safe for now...
You are not safe yet. Talks between BA and BALPA are ongoing. BALPA must give 14 days notice of any strike.
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Old Aug 12, 2019, 1:02 pm
  #1053  
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Originally Posted by W213Sal
Anyone here actually in the loop of how the talks are going? Supposed to be flying to Seychelles 31st Aug / 8 Sept I guess those dates are safe for now...
Originally Posted by rapidex
You are not safe yet. Talks between BA and BALPA are ongoing. BALPA must give 14 days notice of any strike.
Likewise ... outbound to USA 2/3 Sep and hoping some sense will prevail in the negotiations.

I suspect there are many thousands in the same boat, although not necessarily logged into to this excellent/dynamic source of information.
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Old Aug 12, 2019, 3:19 pm
  #1054  
 
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Originally Posted by rapidex
You are not safe yet. Talks between BA and BALPA are ongoing. BALPA must give 14 days notice of any strike.
Where does it say talks are ongoing. The Press Association Industrial correspondent reported talks had concluded and I’ve not seen anything since.
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Old Aug 12, 2019, 3:22 pm
  #1055  
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Originally Posted by KeaneJohn
Where does it say talks are ongoing. The Press Association Industrial correspondent reported talks had concluded and I’ve not seen anything since.
The press have not picked up on what is happening because neither side is officially putting out info.

On Thursday talks broke down and BALPA drafted a letter with the strike dates.

BA panicked at this point and suddenly decided that it did actually have a magic money tree after all. BALPA said 'thank you very much, let's chat' and a new set of talks began on Friday. These continued at ACAS today.

It is possible that BA is just stringing them along, because not announcing the strike today means the Bank Holiday and 100th anniversary weekend is safe. We should know very soon.
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Old Aug 12, 2019, 3:35 pm
  #1056  
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Originally Posted by Raffles
It is possible that BA is just stringing them along, because not announcing the strike today means the Bank Holiday and 100th anniversary weekend is safe. We should know very soon.
I've said this before but it is worth repeating that if BA are stringing BALPA along just to prevent a strike on the bank holiday / fake anniversary weekend it won't end well for BA and they'll have even angrier pilots on their hands and they'll regret trying to be cute.
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Old Aug 12, 2019, 10:52 pm
  #1057  
 
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It should also be pointed out that ACAS will have suggested that a precondition of talks is that neither party makes any press statements whatsoever whilst talks are ongoing. It is very easy to inflame the situation even by casual statements such as "the other party has not moved their position". Maybe the UK/EU could have learnt from this.
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Old Aug 13, 2019, 2:08 am
  #1058  
 
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Originally Posted by redshift27
It should also be pointed out that ACAS will have suggested that a precondition of talks is that neither party makes any press statements whatsoever whilst talks are ongoing. It is very easy to inflame the situation even by casual statements such as "the other party has not moved their position". Maybe the UK/EU could have learnt from this.
These talks are direct BA/BALPA. ACAS is not involved.
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Old Aug 13, 2019, 4:17 am
  #1059  
 
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Originally Posted by rapidex
These talks are direct BA/BALPA. ACAS is not involved.
British Airways tweeted an hour ago stating talks were at ACAS. Of course their Twitter team may be out of the loop.
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Old Aug 13, 2019, 4:19 am
  #1060  
dsf
 
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Originally Posted by redshift27


British Airways tweeted an hour ago stating talks were at ACAS. Of course their Twitter team may be out of the loop.
BALPA have said the talks are at ACAS on their own site too https://www.balpa.org/Media-Centre/P...h-Airways-next
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Old Aug 13, 2019, 4:55 am
  #1061  
 
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Although that press notice appears to have been issued on 2nd August so may not be applicable now.
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Old Aug 13, 2019, 10:48 am
  #1062  
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The other issue now is that BA seems to have given assurances to cabin crew that their deal was the only deal and everyone would get the same. If the pilots now get RPI protection on their pay rise, a full profit share, a full share of productivity gains etc then we can expect more trouble.
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Old Aug 13, 2019, 12:21 pm
  #1063  
 
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BALPA have just tweeted that:

BA dispute update: Talks at ACAS concluded with BA yesterday. The position reached will be discussed by BALPA this week and we will issue any resulting announcement as soon as possible.
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Old Aug 13, 2019, 2:15 pm
  #1064  
 
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Originally Posted by Cw novice
BALPA have just tweeted that:

BA dispute update: Talks at ACAS concluded with BA yesterday. The position reached will be discussed by BALPA this week and we will issue any resulting announcement as soon as possible.
If I were BALPA I would want to settle with BA and then claim that the union had prevailed (aided by a more reasonable management) before girding my loins for the Ryanair fight. It is very noteworthy that BALPA did not even bother going to ACAS with Ryanair and that will be a nasty fight, especially given the low level of union penetration and the belligerence of MOL. Not a war to fight when you have a second front on against BA.
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Old Aug 14, 2019, 2:20 am
  #1065  
 
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So per HeadforPoints this morning, last night's tweet is a promising signal, which may presage a re-ballot. Anyone got insight?
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