British Airways cabin crew have launched a new five-day strike, as a bitter dispute with management over pay and working conditions drags on with little sign of a breakthrough.
BA said flights to and from Heathrow will be affected by the walkout. But the carrier said it can operate more than 70 per cent of its long-haul flights, compared to the 60 per cent it operated during last week’s strike action because more cabin crew than expected had decided to cross the picket line
55% percent of short-haul flights will take off, slightly more than the 50 percent last week. All flights will operate at the smaller Gatwick and London City airports.
Cabin crew walked off their jobs on May 24 and began the new round of strikes today after talks collapsed on Friday. They plan to strike for another five days from June 5, if a solution to the long-running dispute is not found.
Seven days of walkouts in March over the same dispute cost BA about UKL43 million ($74 million).
