The British pilots union went ahead with a strike that led to the cancellation of a major number of its flights on Monday and Tuesday.
After a heated dispute over pay with the airline the strike was called for by the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA).In a statement posted on Monday by the British Airways it states that it remains –ready and willing to return to talks with BALPA.
According to the airline it was forced to cancel flights because there were no detail from BALPA on which pilots would strike and they could not predict how many would come to work or which aircraft were qualified to fly.
British Airways said that the customers who had flights booked for Monday and Tuesday were likely not be able to travel as planned.
In July members of the pilot union voted 93% in favour of strike and BALPA mentioned that last week it would be willing to call it off if British Airways returned to the negotiating table.
In the United Kingdom, BALPA represents more than 10,000 pilots which accounts for more than 85% of all commercial pilots who fly there.
On September 27 the pilot’s union might strike again and the British Airways will be informing the customers who will be travelling on or around that date to know if they are affected.
British Airways said that if offers an 11.5% increase over there years ‘fair’ and above the United Kingdom’s current rate of inflation as the union is calling for higher wages.
A statement released earlier stated that the strike could destroy the travel plans of tens of thousands of their customers and tagged it as a reckless course of action.
Tags: BALPA, British airways
