BA Pilot Strikes Scheduled for September

[NantahalaCruiser]

Apparently BA Pilots will be on strike on September 9, 10 and 27 - best of luck if you are flying with them on those dates.

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/industrials/british-airways-pilots-strike-first-time-ever-september

[willma]

We just found our email this morning telling us that our return flight Vancouver to London following our Alaska cruise has been cancelled. We thought we would be okay as we come back on the 8th September.

 

[yorky]

It’s a real shame and will badly effect some on here, as above it will also have a knock on effect for at least a day, maybe two  after these dates. We fly in September ourselves but are one of the fortunate ones that are not effected as we fly out in the 21st. You do wonder why a salary of around 200k a year is not enough.

[chemmo]

Sincere sympathy to anyone hit by this action...Our flights to Hawaii on AirFrance for our TP cruise a few years ago were cancelled...talk about stressful.

 

Just a reminder for anyone trying to reschedule flights that it can often be cheaper to go via a European city (Amsterdam, Frankfurt) on KLM or Lufthansa than trying to find a replacement from the U.K. For those guests cruising from Florida remember you can look at charter flights from several U.K. airports into Orlando and then drive to the cruise port...

 

Best wishes to all....

Edited August 24, 2019 by chemmo

[bengaltiger1]

57 minutes ago, yorky said:

It’s a real shame and will badly effect some on here, as above it will also have a knock on effect for at least a day, maybe two  after these dates. We fly in September ourselves but are one of the fortunate ones that are not effected as we fly out in the 21st. You do wonder why a salary of around 200k a year is not enough.

 

Not all pilots are who work for BA are on £200,000 per year. 

We have flown with them once, but due to the strike action in previous years we decided that unless the cost is way below their competitors that we wouldn’t fly with them again. 

[ShonaTay56]

Biggest problem at the moment is that BA has notified a lot of people in error that their flights are cancelled. We fly out of Aberdeen then Heathrow on the 11th Sept. We got an email on Friday telling us that they both had been cancelled. Spoke to our TA on Saturday and they eventually came back to me saying that our flight was still showing as scheduled and an email had been sent to us in error. An hour later I got an email from BA saying that they had made a mistake and our flight was still going ahead.

Willma I would check with your TA before doing anything.

Alan Taylor

[Scotraveller]

My flights home from New York to Aberdeen from next week's Summit cruise have been cancelled and I've spent the whole weekend trying to find a suitable route home. Would you believe we are flying from JFK to Manchester via Doha on Qatar Airways? Luckily we are in business class and Qatar's is amazing, but even so - a 12 hour flight to Doha then 7 hours to Manchester then connection to Aberdeen is pretty extreme! Oh well, just relax and enjoy! I know many people have huge problems though so it could be worse.

[Alushar]

gWe are on a BA flight mid mornin on 11th so assume cancelled, maybe reinstated, but booked through Celebrity so they are dealing with it we don't get the emails from BA. Of course Bank Holiday in UK meant we have to wait until today for them to deal with it. At present not heard anything but the travel section of my cruise planner is greyed out. I've promised the wife I'll let them have today to sort it though it's killing me!

[Edinburghgirl1]

Scotraveller you’ve won a watch Qatar airways business class was voted best in the world by Skytrax and will be way better than BA. The only thing that could make it even better for you  is if you are on a plane fitted with the new Q suites. They are amazing. 

[Ms Jo UK]

Not cruise related this time.  We were booked on a weeks land holiday to an All inclusive in Barbados departing on 10th with BA.  At 11.55pm Friday evening I received an email saying they had cancelled the whole holiday and I would receive a refund in 3 to 10 days.  We were tied into these dates to travel or else no holiday so had to look elsewhere and luckily had the money to rebook before receiving the refund.  So now it is an All Inclusive in St lucia. I feel for everyone who has been affected and I am counting my blessings that at least we found something.

[chemmo]

33 minutes ago, Ms Jo UK said:

Not cruise related this time.  We were booked on a weeks land holiday to an All inclusive in Barbados departing on 10th with BA.  At 11.55pm Friday evening I received an email saying they had cancelled the whole holiday and I would receive a refund in 3 to 10 days.  We were tied into these dates to travel or else no holiday so had to look elsewhere and luckily had the money to rebook before receiving the refund.  So now it is an All Inclusive in St lucia. I feel for everyone who has been affected and I am counting my blessings that at least we found something.

 

So pleased you have found a suitable replacement...You sound like “My glass is more than half full sort of people”....

 

My heart goes out to those travellers who maybe planned a honeymoon, anniversary or special birthday many months in advance only now to either get their money back or accept a ‘compromise’...

 

 

 

[chemmo]

3 hours ago, Scotraveller said:

My flights home from New York to Aberdeen from next week's Summit cruise have been cancelled and I've spent the whole weekend trying to find a suitable route home. Would you believe we are flying from JFK to Manchester via Doha on Qatar Airways? Luckily we are in business class and Qatar's is amazing, but even so - a 12 hour flight to Doha then 7 hours to Manchester then connection to Aberdeen is pretty extreme! Oh well, just relax and enjoy! I know many people have huge problems though so it could be worse.

 

In March last year our flights to Orlando from Manchester via Philadelphia were firstly ‘at risk’ and then cancelled owing to ‘unseasonable weather’....Thanks to advice from CC posters we were probably ‘first in the queue’ to reschedule our flights.

 

We ended up going Manchester to Heathrow, Heathrow to Fort Worth, Fort Worth to Miami and then a taxi to Fort Lauderdale....We never got to our Orlando hotel and our luggage didn’t arrive with us at first...By the time we boarded Reflection we needed our cruise!!!

 

On the positive side American Airline staff were wonderful in looking at all options for us. Celebrity’s shoreside concierge kept in contact and was full of reassurance of how they would help us if our luggage didn’t catch up. Most importantly we were sincerely touched by the support and sincere best wishes from Cruise Critic posters who followed our unscheduled journey step by step.

 

Your positive attitude will, I am sure, help you ‘cope’ with Qatar business class...Just sit back relax and enjoy...

[Esprit]

British Airways should be ashamed of themselves. I can't recall other international carriers causing so much heartache. It used to have an enviable reputation but now avoid BA and fly Virgin or Etihad

[Edinburghgirl1]

Our friends were with us in Thailand in June when Eva air who they were flying home with, called an all out strike. Their TA rebooked them on a flight to London with Thai airways at no extra cost to them. I presume the refund from Eva air would go back to the TA. 

[AC Stew]

Esprit: Many Major European carriers are confronted with job action/strikes from time to time. For example: Every few years, there are strikes (often pilots) affecting operations with Air France, Alitalia, and Lufthansa. This is not unusual. But a strike vote is taken as a last resort in negotiating with any airline. My understanding is that BA pilots have not been forced to strike since the 70's! This one is apparently about recouping rolled back salaries and reduced sick days. Perhaps other working condition issues.

 

I know, when our holidays are disrupted, who cares? I'm not about to defend either side, but I think it's helpful that the pilots have given notice of the specific days, allowing folks at least a "little" time to make other arrangements. They didn't have to do that.

 

I will not participate in ongoing dialogue here. I just wanted to point out that this BA situation is not unique.

[Esprit]

Point taken AC Stew but I'm not against the pilots' action. BA are just not the carrier they used be IMHO

[Alushar]

Actually AC Stew under UK law 14 days notice have to be given of strike days. Without entering into whether the pilots are right or not it should be noted that other unions represnting over 95% of BA workforce have accepted the current offer.

 

I've been told by Celebrity that my flight is flying and if disrupted they have contingenices and to not owrry! They don't know me lol!