Article from BTNews 3 JULY 2017
BA faces down new strike
Aircraft wet-leased from Qatar Airways went into service with British Airways at the weekend as BA moved to allay the effects of the latest strike by Unite union members among its mixed-fleet cabin crew. The strike is due to last until 16 July.
BA was still insisting yesterday it would operate 99.5% of its schedule, including all flights at Gatwick, Stansted and London City airports and “the vast majority” of Heathrow operations.
Officials added that BA would merge “a very small number” of Heathrow services, and all its affected customers were being contacted in advance and rebooked to alternative flights.
Updates on the situation were being offered on the airline website, but only to customers who had booked and could access the “manage my flight” section by inputting a booking number.
BA’s public posture was to follow the original line posted on 19 June and not updated as of yesterday (Sunday), in which the airline said: "We recognise the uncertainty that Mixed Fleet Unite's threat is causing and would like to reassure customers that the vast majority of our services will be unaffected.”
The message added: "If you currently have a booking, please ensure that your email and phone details are up to date by using Manage My Booking on our website so that we can continue providing you with updates on your flight."
Qatar Airways is one of BA’s partners in the oneworld alliance and owner of a 20% stake in BA’s parent company IAG.
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
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Steve Banham, Frankfurt, Germany
BA 903 operated by HiFly A340 today. Nice flight albeit 2 hours late. Nice cheese ploughmans sandwich and a free cup of tea!
Simon Grigor, Harrow
A nice flight (albeit late) on BA419 back from Luxembourg last night on Qatar A320 A7-LAA. Free packet of Walkers Crisps a bonus with not a mention of wonderful (ha ha) M & S offerings!