British Airways Pilots are not done with their era of strikes as they are preparing for a fresh 10-day strike to protest the lingering issue of pay disputes in the month of November.
According to a report, the next strike, which was described as a mega strike, could cost the airline £400 million.
[READ MORE: British Airways Pilots strike over pay disputes]
Pilots want to ground British Airways: According to a source, the pilots are truly determined to wreak havoc on the airline and address their grievances with a strong boycott of their service which will affect everyone – passengers, pilots and the airline negatively.
“The disruption we have seen so far is nothing. The mega walkout would bring BA to its knees,” the source said.
External Pilots to the rescue: British Airways has refused to go down as it plans to employ the services of 150 volunteer pilots who will operate during the strike. The Crew chief of the Airline, Karen Slinger has requested hired hands from external airlines to make sure flights are not utterly grounded by the strike convener, British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA).
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More sources from the BALPA have bemoaned the grievances of the workers over the pay cuts, leave allowance cuts and several welfare packages suffered at the hands of the Airline.
The convener said British Airways did little to address the issues despite a recent two-day mass action that successfully held on September 9th and 10th of this month, resulting into a loss of £80 million, as reported by Nairametrics.
However, the pilots have remained adamant about shelving plans for a strike scheduled for September 27th.
A source said, “There is real anger. Balpa wants to teach BA a lesson,” the source said.
BA tries to save face with denial: British Airways has, however, beckoned to BALPA to return to the negotiation table after dismissing the reports of a looming 10-day strike.
“We put forward ideas this week and called on BALPA to return to talks. We need to give customers certainty so have contacted all affected by September 27.”
The ripple effect: The planned strike could be bad for business as it will affect the Pilots, the Airline and the Passengers and stain the company’s 100 years credibility. Many pilots are shareholders in the company and rely on their pension, so they may suffer pay loss again or outright sack. Besides, rival firms like Virgin Atlantic will profit from this imbroglio.
The back story: Last month, British Airways Pilots announced three-day strike action over failure to settle a pay dispute that persisted for a long time. The strike was expected to take place for three days – 9th, 10th and 27th of September. The strike took place on 9th and 10th of September and caused the airline £80 million. Dogged and persistent, the pilots with the help of their association are hoping to force British Airways to raise their take-home package now that the company is recording profits of £2 billion a year.
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