Thomas Cook revises flight times for next pilot strike

Thomas Cook Airlines has rescheduled 30 flights for this Friday, September 29, when pilots plan their latest walkout.

A 24-hour strike is set to take place from 00:01 until 23:59 hours on Friday, with another strike set for the following Friday, October 6, unless an agreement over pay and conditions is reached.

Thomas Cook is contacting affected passengers and said the revised flight times would remain, even if the industrial action is called off.

It said: "We are very disappointed that BALPA is proposing another strike on Friday.

"Thomas Cook management put forward an increased offer last week and remains open to negotiate further. We urge BALPA to come back to the table to resolve this issue in the interests of all involved.

"In the meantime, our priority is to make sure all of our customers can travel with minimum disruption during the strike period. We have drawn up robust contingency plans and are pleased to confirm that all of our flights scheduled on September 29 will operate."

In a travel update on its website, which lists the flights affected on Friday, Thomas Cook said: "In order to make sure that everyone can still travel with us during the strike period, we have made changes to the departure times of some of our flights on the 29 September.

"We have tried to keep disruption to a minimum and apologise if these changes affect your plans or cause you inconvenience on that day."

It added: "BALPA has also warned of a strike on 6 October. We will provide further updates to our schedule for those dates if necessary.

"We will continue to work hard with the pilots’ union representatives to find a way forward and avoid strike action."

Forty flights were rescheduled on Saturday when pilots held their first 24-hour strike. Before that, they had carried out a 12-hour walkout on September 8.

The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) tweeted on Saturday: "Apologies to passengers disrupted by #ThomasCookPilotStrike. This action could have been prevented by the company with acceptable pay offer."

BALPA General Secretary, Brian Strutton, said the pay dispute has not been resolved despite ‘tortuous negotiations at ACAS’.

"We need Thomas Cook to understand just how resolute pilots are and how frustrated they are with the company.

"We urge the company to come back to the negotiating table with a better offer so this situation can come to an end," he added.

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