BA Management and Staff lock horns – dispute deepens

BA has been running into losses in more than a hundred million due to the dispute between BA management and BA cabin crew as passengers switch to other carriers. Though talks took place between the management and the employees, the dispute remained unresolved and that it could lose GBP 1.4 billion in lost sales. The Unite has also warned that the strike may continue but this time the union will need to hold a fresh ballot of members in another few weeks, which would normally take four or five weeks.

The union claimed that only one flight took off from Heathrow airport and this had definitely impacted the flight operation. But with more number of staff members willing to get back to work, BA has announced that it would increase the flights at Heathrow airport.

BA intends to raise its long haul flights from 70% to 80% at Heathrow, and the short haul flights from 55% to 60%. The flight operations of BA in London city airport and in Gatwick airport have remained normal.
Shares in BA fell in the month of May due to the flight disruptions. There is hope that BA’s plans related to merger and cost cutting may make the stocks attractive in the long run.