Anyone flying BA in the next few weeks, or months? BA planned strike Christmas 2009.

[Kiwi]

BA still hasn't cancelled flights allowing rebooking, so I'm still in limbo. Not long until I start this trip.

[Lobster]

I read somewhere that BA has 13,500 cabin crew of which 11,000 belong to Unite. 9000 voted for the stike so assuming all those who voted no or did not vote carry on working then BA will have 4500 cabin crew available ie about 1 third. Whether that will translate into one third of flights departing I doubt due to rostering and planes being out of position but there should still be a skelton service. I just hope my flights are one of those that do continue.

[KeithMEL]

I read somewhere that BA has 13,500 cabin crew of which 11,000 belong to Unite. 9000 voted for the stike so assuming all those who voted no or did not vote carry on working then BA will have 4500 cabin crew available ie about 1 third. Whether that will translate into one third of flights departing I doubt due to rostering and planes being out of position but there should still be a skelton service. I just hope my flights are one of those that do continue.

Also have to factor in that of the 9000 who voted for the strike, some might have felt misled by the union on what they were actually voting for, from what I can tell there were no real details of what form the industrial action would take during the ballot. But OTOH it's one thing to oppose a strike, and quite another to cross the picket line...

I do hope things work out for those who're travelling somehow. I can't imagine the stress I'd be under if this happened to me.

[KeithMEL]

Thought it might be useful putting up BA's rebooking policies here:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel...b?p_faqid=3917

If you are booked to travel between 22 December 2009 and 2 January 2009 or for 48 hours on either side of those dates you can:

Rebook your flight:

* to a different time on another BA flight,
* to the same destination as your original booking,
* within the next twelve months at no extra charge.

In the event your flight becomes cancelled because of industrial action, we will offer you the option to:

*
refund your ticket,
*
rebook on to a different flight or
*
reroute your journey on another BA flight or other carriers (subject to availability and agreement).

For anyone travelling on QF 081 stock (eg on JSA tickets), QF has published the following policy, valid for anyone travelling between 20DEC and 04JAN:

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airl...ions/global/en

Commercial and Any Seat Award passengers may, without additional payment to Qantas*:

1. Defer travel for up to 6 months up until 2 July 2010
2. Re-route travel via the most direct routing on Qantas
3. Return to the original port via the most direct routing on Qantas
4. Retain the unused value of the ticket in credit for future QF travel within 12 months from the date of issue. If the new fare is lower than the amount in credit, a refund of the residual value will apply. If the new fare is more expensive than the amount in credit, the fare difference is payable by passenger

* Travel agents may charge a fee for their services.

Conditions

* All changes to travel dates must be made prior to original ticketed departure date
New travel dates must be no later than 6 months after the original ticketed departure date
* The new flight must be for the same cabin/class of travel (eg First, Business or Economy)
* Lowest booking class available in the same cabin as original ticket, can be used when rebooking to a Qantas flight number if original booking class is not available during travel period 20 December 2009 to 04 January 2010
* Any additional ticket taxes applicable to new routing must be collected at time of ticket reissue
* All other fare rules and conditions of the ticket remain unchanged

Frequent Flyer Classic Award Tickets

If a Classic Award seat is available on an another flight from the same origin to the same destination, Qantas customers holding Classic Award tickets for affected BA services, may rebook at no extra charge.

Refunds

* If BA cancels any services and Qantas is unable to provide a suitable alternative under the options above, a refund will be provided, or in the case of Any Seat Awards or Classic Awards, points will be re-credited, without charge.
* Travel agent issued tickets must be referred back to the issuing agent for refund processing.

[Kiwi]

All well and good but BA has not yet cancelled flights and the alternatives are now gone on many routes.

[KeithMEL]

QF seems to be assuming the worst and has begun rebooking pax flying on codeshares operated by BA:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qanta...0-now-qf6.html

[MAN Flyer]

Also have to factor in that of the 9000 who voted for the strike, some might have felt misled by the union on what they were actually voting for, from what I can tell there were no real details of what form the industrial action would take during the ballot.

That's the point. Many of those who voted for strike action are aghast at a 12 days strike over Christmas being called. It's a bit late now of course, but hopefully more of them will see the union for what they are now. Even one of the bosses of UNITE said he was a bit surprised when they called a 12 days strike.

I was amused to listen to a current Cabin Crew member call a radio phone in debate about this yesterday, and was saying Wille Walsh was the problem and if he went it would make things better. The guy in the studio said 'But hang on, you guys blamed the previous CEO for previous strikes and the one before that, don't you see a common demoninator here..' CC member still blamed Willie Walsh.

I just feel really sorry for those who may have their Christmas runied, as that is unforgiveable and, regardless of what BASSA think, people will not forget that.

[First_Flyer]

Everywhere ! Including SIN/BKK-SYD flights. No cabin crew working, no flights can take off.

Oh dear, i'm flying BA from SYD > SIN! I'd better get an SQ ticket

[MAN Flyer]

The article below made me smile. Not just the bit about them being stunned to set up Facebook pages for support then finding themselves instead getting a pasting of the public, but the fella who has banned BA crew from his shop :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0ZtQHelV9

[SQflyergirl]

The article below made me smile. Not just the bit about them being stunned to set up Facebook pages for support then finding themselves instead getting a pasting of the public, but the fella who has banned BA crew from his shop :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0ZtQHelV9

That made me chuckle I'm just thankful I'm not flying BA this christmas as I was same time last year

[Lobster]

I don't have any choice at the moment but to head off on BA as planned tomorrow as BA have not cancelled my flight I can not get a refund all I can do is rebook for another time but I am going for christmas so going later in the year makes no sense. So I will fly off tomorrow and hope that I can get back without too much stress and hastle.

Just to add to the fun I now see that snow is forecast for the Heathrow area tomorrow.

[SQflyergirl]

The strike's been blocked by the high court!

[jhm]

Just to add to the fun I now see that snow is forecast for the Heathrow area tomorrow.

Not just snow but 10-20cm of the stuff!

[MAN Flyer]

Yep:

A strike by British Airways cabin crew planned for Christmas has been declared illegal in a High Court ruling.

The court agreed with BA that the cabin crew's union, Unite, had not correctly balloted its members on the strike action.

The injunction means that the 12-day strike cannot now go ahead.

Unite called it "a disgraceful day for democracy" and vowed to hold a fresh ballot of cabin crew if the dispute with BA was not resolved.

British Airways said the decision would be welcomed by "hundreds of thousands of families in the UK and around the world".

"There was never any need for a strike and we hope that Unite will take this opportunity to reflect before deciding its next steps," a statement from the company said.

"In recent days, we believe Unite has formed a better understanding of our position and of the ways in which we could move forward.

"It has also become very clear that our customers do not believe that old-style trade union militancy is relevant to our efforts to move British Airways back toward profitability.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8418805.stm

[jhm]

What's mentioned on some discussion boards but not (yet ?) reported in the media is that the general secretary of BASSA was encouraging those who'd already taken voluntary redundancy to vote yes in the strike ballot.