British Airways Union May Extend Strike, Says CEO Walsh `Will Break'
The tail fins of British Airways aircraft are seenare seen at Heathrow airport in London. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association, talks with Bloomberg's Mark Barton about the 2.4 percent decline in global airline traffic during April. European carriers recorded a 12 percent decline in passenger traffic after a 6.2 percent jump in March as ash from an Icelandic volcano closed the region's airspace for six days last month. (Source: Bloomberg)
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh speaks during a meeting at London City Airport. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
British Airways Plc’s 12,000 cabin crew may be balloted on extending their “solid” strike, the Unite union said, as the carrier increases services in anticipation of the walkout weakening.
The stoppage, which began May 24, has forced the company to cancel flights for more than 25,000 people a day. British Airways aims to bring that number below 22,000 by adding more trips during a further strike starting May 30.
Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh will give way before the flight attendants back down, Derek Simpson, the union’s joint general secretary, said in an interview. Unite may conduct a new ballot of workers to ensure that it complies with legal requirements after Walsh went to court to block a strike last week, he said.
“He may not break this week, he may not break next week, but sooner or later he will,” Simpson said yesterday after a rally near London’s Heathrow airport. “I don’t believe for one moment that he personally wants a settlement. He wants to be in a position where he can impose whatever he wants.”
British Airways and Unite have been discussing changes to staffing levels and future pay grades for more than a year. The current dispute flared up in November, when Walsh cut crew numbers on long-haul flights without the union’s approval.
Slow Progress
This week’s five-day walkout began after talks with the CEO broke down last weekend. The first negotiations since then took place yesterday and will resume tomorrow, according to Unite spokeswoman Pauline Doyle, who said progress is “very slow,” though the fact that the sides are meeting is a “good sign.”
British Airways spokesman Tony Cane said that discussions will resume “at a later date.” He declined to comment on Simpson’s remarks.
British Airways gained 6.4 percent to 204 pence in London trading, valuing the company at 2.35 billion pounds ($3.42 billion).
The stock has fallen 3.7 percent since Feb. 22, when Unite said its members voted to strike, compared with an 11 percent drop in the eight-member Bloomberg EMEA Airlines Index.
“It’s a crazy situation,” said John Strickland, an aviation consultant at JLS Consulting Ltd. in London. “I have never been able to understand the union position on this. It’s as if they are letting Rome burn while the competition gets on with business.”
Today’s schedule eliminated about 40 percent of long-haul flights from the company’s main hub at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, plus about 50 percent of short-haul services.
Extra Trips
The timetable for next week, revealed yesterday, reduces cancellations to 30 percent for long-haul routes and 45 percent on European services. Operations from London’s Gatwick and City airports are unaffected and the carrier will fly 75 percent of people with bookings, compared with about 70 percent this week.
“British Airways will be increasing its flying schedule during Unite’s threatened five-day strike after more cabin crew than expected decided to work as normal during this week’s industrial action,” it said in yesterday’s statement.
British Airways cancelled 123 of its 290 scheduled services today, with 21 long-haul flights grounded and 102 short-haul flights scrapped, Unite said. British Airways spokeswoman Dayna Ward said that the number of cabin crew reporting to work was “more than sufficient” to allow the carrier to operate planned services.
Travel Perks
Unite will halt the strike if Walsh restores travel perks to staff who walked out during two initial stoppages spanning seven days in March and agrees to discuss the suspension of workers during the action, Tony Woodley, the union’s other joint general secretary, reiterated after the Heathrow rally.
“The offer is on the table,” Woodley said. “He can have this strike suspended right now if he returns the travel concessions without the loss of seniority. That will allow us to conclude the other items of business, including justice for those 54 people who have been suspended.”
Workers are prepared to “stand together” with Walsh to resolve business problems, the labor leader said. “What he is not going to get is the destruction of our union.”
Simpson said a ballot on continuing the series of strikes, which is currently due to end on June 9, may be necessary to protect against the company using a legal loophole to fire workers. The High Court halted the strike on May 17 on the grounds that a vote held by Unite was invalid, before the Court of Appeal decided three days later that the ballot should stand.
“Striking in this moment is simply irresponsible,” Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of the International Air Transport Association, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview.
British Airways lost 43 million pounds during the March strikes, contributing to a 425 million-pound full-year deficit, the biggest since it sold shares to investors in 1987.
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page