British Airways has started informing passengers to cancel flights on September 27, ahead of another scheduled pilot strike.
The scheduled demonstration is expected to impact hundreds of flights and tens of thousands of passengers. The conflict stemmed from a wage increase that the pilots claim to be insufficient. Earlier this week, British Airways pilots conducted a 48-hour walkout that affected almost 200,000 passengers' travel plans.
A spokeswoman for British Airways said they decided to cancel the flights "to give customers as much certainty as possible" amidst the looming strike. The airline is offering passengers with a full refund or a rebook on an alternative date or airline. She stated "We are very sorry that Balpa's actions will affect thousands more travel plans. We urge them to call off their strike and return to negotiations." Previously, British Airways claimed that it would incur £40m in losses a day due to the strike.
The decision to cancel flights was criticized by the union as "irresponsible and inconsiderate to its customers," claiming that it was a strategy to save money for the airline. According to Balpa, informing passengers ahead of time would enable the airline to avoid paying compensation to them.
Balpa claimed that it announced its second strike ahead to allow time for negotiations but British Airlines had not responded to its proposals. The union added that it had given BA "multiple opportunities" to cooperate and avoid the strike.
British Airways argued that it has offered pilots an 11.5% wage increase over three years that could boost some captains' salaries to £200,000. However, the union pointed out that many of its members earn far less than that, with new pilots receiving a starting salary of below £30,000.
Consequently, when the airline initiated the flight cancellations, it also mistakenly canceled extra flights. forcing it to hire additional customer relations staff to respond to customer calls and messages.
