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BA Air Strike

mollymillar

By mollymillar,
in Cruise Air

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Globaliser

Globaliser

Posted
Posted
... more importantly our cruise departs 19th March.
What's your routing? British Airways doesn't fly to Acapulco. So if some of your trip is on BA, you're obviously changing somewhere onto some other airline.

 

The probability is that any strike, if it even starts, won't last for more than 5 or 6 days. And even during that period, the noises suggest that a large part of BA's operation will still be running. That reduces the number of passengers who have to be rerouted on other airlines.

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jetwet1

jetwet1

Posted
Posted
I have a business trip booked first week of march to Shanghai but more importantly our cruise departs 19th March.

 

Will Princess refund the cruise as it is booked with Princess Air

 

 

If you have booked air with through the cruise line, it's their problem, not yours, they will accommodate you on other airlines.

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Globaliser

Globaliser

Posted
Posted
If you have booked air with through the cruise line, it's their problem, not yours, they will accommodate you on other airlines.
In practice, I am sure that they will try. But if they can't, they will be entitled to cancel the entire trip for a full refund. The case may fall within the contractual provisions for extra compensation, but if it's because of a strike then that may well exclude extra compensation - you have to read the contract.
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jetwet1

jetwet1

Posted
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In practice, I am sure that they will try. But if they can't, they will be entitled to cancel the entire trip for a full refund. The case may fall within the contractual provisions for extra compensation, but if it's because of a strike then that may well exclude extra compensation - you have to read the contract.

 

 

Of course, however right now there is a bit of slack in the trans Atlantic system, an extra connection may be needed, but it should be impossible to do.

 

However knowing Princess, everything can be impossible for them.

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jetwet1

jetwet1

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Of course, however right now there is a bit of slack in the trans Atlantic system, an extra connection may be needed, but it should be impossible to do.

 

However knowing Princess, everything can be impossible for them.

 

Well that slack may be coming out of the system really quick, with the impending strike now looking more likely I would consider calling Princess and trying to get a air deviation to go via VS if your routing through LAX.

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shoesonfire

shoesonfire

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We are booked on a 14 day Azamara cruise rt Rome on May 15. We booked our own air travel with British Airways. When I spoke with a BA person this morning, she said she felt the strike would be in March and not to worry about our May travel time. Somehow, I don't feel completely at ease. Our tickets are non-refundable and keeping our fingers crossed that BA will settle ahead. Should we be doing something different like booking refundable tickets now on another airline, just in case??? We used a credit card and of course are just basically covered for trip interruption, etc. Would it help to get insurance, i.e. Travel Guard and does this type of insurance really help, or is there some really fine print we might not see? Sorry, new to posting (I originally posted on the wrong forum), so please understand if these questions have been answered already.

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Ainhoa

Ainhoa

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The word on the street is, but don't hold me to this, that BA employees will vote for the strike, but won't actually strike. BA have said that anyone who strikes will lose all their perks and these are worth quite a lot, not worth losing by striking.

 

If you want to know how it would affect you if they went ahead, you can find answers on www.britishairways.com/travel/strike-ballot-faq/public/en_us

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Ainhoa

Ainhoa

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No, they are still "talking". Any action must begin by March 22nd (because of the date the members were balloted) so anyone flying after this is safe (until the next ballot). They also have to give BA at least a week's notice. BA have plans in place to use retired FA and even pilots to fill the gap. BA flight attendants are amongst the highest paid in the world and their perks are very good. BA wants to try to stem the haemorrhage of losses by cutting the number of FA on any flight by one. I think we have a case of turkeys voting for Christmas.

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Globaliser

Globaliser

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There was an internal briefing yesterday, and the public announcement is as follows:-

Cabin crew strike ballot

 

A message from our CEO, Willie Walsh

 

Unite, the union that represents our BA cabin crew, has not as yet announced any strike dates. It must tell us by 15 March if it intends to take strike action and it cannot go on strike without first giving us seven days notice.

 

In the meantime we continue to have talks with Unite and we want to resolve the issues between us.

 

I wanted to update you on what we propose to do in the event that a strike does go ahead.

 

A strike will not ground British Airways, we have had nearly 6,000 volunteers to support our flying programme, including nearly 1,000 who have trained as cabin crew and the number is growing.

 

We have been putting plans into place and although we cannot announce the precise schedule we will operate until we know for sure what Unite would do, I can tell you what our plans are.

  • We will operate all our flights from London City airport, including long-haul services to New York.
  • We will operate all our long-haul flights at London Gatwick, and about half of our short-haul flights.
  • At London Heathrow, we will operate a substantial proportion of our long-haul flights and a good number of short-haul flights too, assisted by chartered aircraft with crews from a number of UK and European-based airlines.

All BA Cityflyer, codeshare and franchise flights will continue to operate as normal.

 

We have also arranged to secure seats from other carriers, so thousands more of you can reach your chosen destinations.

 

I would like to thank you for standing by us in recent weeks, we want to help you as much as we possibly can.

 

If strike dates are announced

 

You will be able to rebook, free of charge and subject to availability, onto other British Airways flights outside of the strike period for up to 355 days from the original date of travel.

 

Refunds will only be available if flights are actually cancelled or if the original booking conditions allow.

 

In the event that cancellations are made due to strike action

 

You will be able to:

  • Rebook onto another British Airways flight to the same destination within 355 days of the original date of travel
  • Rebook onto another British Airways flight to/from the nearest alternative airport (for example, if booked to/from Boston you could rebook to/from Philadelphia or New York)
  • Cancel your booking and get a refund.

All rebooking options will be subject to availability.

 

More detailed information about rebooking options, including specific dates covered by these guidelines will be made available if a strike is announced.

 

Normal Conditions of Carriage will apply for any flights that are cancelled outside of the strike period.

 

British Airways Executive Club members will continue to earn Tier Points and BA Miles for flights cancelled due to any strike action.

 

Update your contact details

 

If you are affected it is our intention to inform you directly if we have your email address or by SMS text if we have your mobile phone number.

 

We will use the contact details supplied at the time of booking, so please ensure these are correct and up-to-date:

>

> Background information on the strike ballot

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Globaliser

Globaliser

Posted
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The deadline was extended from last night until this afternoon (Wednesday 10 March). The talks are now reported to have broken up without agreement. The union is reportedly calling a press conference at noon tomorrow (Thursday), when strike dates may well be announced.

 

For those who are travelling over the next few weeks, there are a few things to bear in mind.

 

First, there should be no strikes over Easter. The union gave that commitment when it announced the new ballot, in part to try to persuade its members to vote yes again. (It will not have escaped anyone's notice that the turnout was lower this time, and the proportion of yes votes was also lower.)

 

Second, a substantial proportion of flights would still operate. For example, Gatwick longhaul is expected to be unaffected by any strike. And a substantial strike-breaking force has been assembled, so there will be flights that have a proportion of temporary cabin crew assembled from a variety of sources of trained volunteers.

 

Third, any strike would probably be called ex-base. That means that from the time a strike starts, it may affect flights departing London from that time. However, crew who are already downroute will not be on strike until they return to London. This means that in the first few days of a strike, there may well be less of an effect on flights operating back to the UK than on flights leaving the UK. (For example, if a strike started on Thursday next week, it might affect a London-Johannesburg flight on Thursday night. But Johannesburg-London flights could operate unaffected by the strike until Sunday night at the earliest, because Saturday night's flights are operated by crew who left London on Wednesday night.)

 

Fourth, the company's plans may affect the previous point - some crew may be told to stay downroute for a longer period than usual so that they will work recovery flights at the end of the strike, and they would not be on strike unless and until they were returned to London by the company.

 

Fifth, the strike will not affect Cityflyer services (mostly shorthaul from London City).

 

As someone who has a long-term interest in the company's services, because they fit my needs well, I have to say: If it's come to this, bring it on.

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H2Otstr

H2Otstr

Posted
Posted

Globaliser, what would we do IF we happen to get from Dulles to Heathrow, but not be able to continue on from Heathrow to Basel? Would the strike possibly hinder us in this manner?

 

I sure hopew this gets resoved before the 20th :eek:.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Sharon

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Globaliser

Globaliser

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Based on what happened last time (before the strike was cancelled), other airlines are likely to stop selling space on strike days so that they have some capacity to take BA passengers that need to be rebooked. But there will be no guarantee that any individual passenger can/will get rebooked onto another airline, which is why it is not listed as an option on the BA website (see above).

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