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BA STRIKE: Pilot strike sparks seven days of flight cancellations

British Airways (BA) is preparing to cancel flights in September on at least four consecutive days following the latest strike announcement by its pilots.

British Airways (BA) is preparing to cancel flights in September on at least four consecutive days following the latest strike announcement by its pilots.

BA Pilots, represented by the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) will take industrial action on September 9th, 10th and 27th in a dispute over wages.

Aviation experts have since warned of at least three additional days of cancellations and delays as a result of British Airways aircraft and cabin crew being displaced globally.

The airline’s industrial action is expected to affect at least 1,500 flights.

Following the announcement, some customers flying between September 8th – 12th have already been told their flight has been cancelled.

British Airways have since faced complaints from thousands of passengers who claimed they couldn’t get through to the airline to raise concerns around refunds for the axed flights. Other passengers said they had received cancellation emails in error and were told to rebook.

A statement from the UK’s national carrier said: “It is completely unacceptable that Balpa is destroying the travel plans of tens of thousands of our customers with this unjustifiable strike action.

“We are extremely sorry that after many months of negotiations, based on a very fair offer, Balpa has decided on this reckless course of action.

“We are now making changes to our schedule and will do everything we can to get as many people away on their journeys as possible. However, it is likely that many of our customers will not be able to travel and we will be offering refunds and re-bookings for passengers booked on cancelled flights.”

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“Our proposed deal of 11.5 per cent over three years is very fair and well above the UK’s current rate of inflation, and by contrast to Balpa, has been accepted by the members of the Unite and GMB trade unions, which represent nearly 90 per cent of all British Airways colleagues including engineers, cabin crew and ground staff,” added the airline in a statement.

In response, the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) has suggested in a statement that it would be cheaper for British Airways to meet their demands saying: “A day of strike action will cost BA around £40 million (AU$73m), while three days will cost in the region of £120 million (AU$219m).”

The strike action is extremely unfortunate timing given British Airways celebrated their centenary and 100 years of flying only yesterday. The first regular international passenger air service took place between London and Paris on August 25, 1919.

Find out more about Britsh Airways’ industrial action here.