Britain

British Airways could face Easter pilots’ strike

UK travellers could face Easter misery after negotiations broke down that were seeking to avert a pilots’ strike at British Airways.

Talks between British Airways management and the pilots’ union BALPA, held through the mediation service Acas, ended on Friday March 7 in deadlock. Eighty six per cent of pilots had already voted for strike action over a dispute concerning the outsourcing of pilots’ jobs.

Union regulations state that the pilots must give at least seven days’ notice before commencing strike action, and with Easter just two weeks away, the threat remains that they could disrupt services during this period, when some 400,000 people use BA’s main airports at Gatwick and Heathrow.

BA and BALPA had spend the week in talks at Acas, tying to find a solution to the disagreement about the creation of Open Skies, a new airline run by BA, that will run flights from the US to cities in Europe.

British Airways plans to use a new group of pilots with different working conditions from their existing pilots, with BALPA members fearing that this could erode their own pay and conditions.

“Despite BALPA’s willingness to accept the terms and conditions proposed by BA to ensure the establishment of the new OpenSkies service, BA was not prepared to provide the employment security and career development opportunities which are at the heart of the dispute,” read a union statement.

British Airways, however, said that: “We have offered binding assurances that OpenSkies will pose no threat to the terms, conditions and job security of British
Airways pilots.”

The airline also said that they would seek a High Court injunction to prevent a strike taking place, with BALPA saying they were considering their response.