British Airways will fly empty planes out of Britain to bring home passengers in a bid to limit the damage of a crippling strike this week.
It was reported last night that the airline had made some progress in the dispute to avert a two-day stoppage on Tuesday and Wednesday, which has forced it to cancel nearly all short-haul and many long-haul services. Willie Walsh, the airline's chief executive, led the crisis talks in secret meetings with Transport and General Workers' Union officials. Unofficial sources said progress had been made in negotiations regarding sickness absence, pay and staffing.
The airline plans to fly empty planes out of London Heathrow on a 'significant number' of its lucrative long-haul routes and return with passengers on board. A total of 1,300 services have been axed and 120,000 passengers will have to be booked on to later flights with other airlines or given a refund.
This is possible because some crew will not be on strike and others, who will be out of the country on Tuesday morning, will have to work. A BA spokesman could not say on which routes it would use the empty planes.
BA revealed that if the two-day strike goes ahead it will cause some services to be cancelled over the following few days, up to as late as 8 February. Analysts say the strike could cost the company £30m.
The airline has recruited 700 extra staff to cope with more than 28,000 calls a day to its helpline from passengers wanting refunds or trying to rebook on another BA flight, or with a different airline.
The cabin crew branch of the T&G union, which has 10,500 members, voted overwhelmingly by 96 per cent earlier this month for strike action, with a turnout of 80 per cent.
If the long-rumbling dispute goes ahead, it would be the first official strike at BA for 10 years. One of the most contentious issues are staff complaints about the way new sick leave regulations have been imposed, including claims that staff are too intimidated to take time off when they are ill.
BA said that before the new procedures were put in place cabin crew had an average of 22 days' sick leave a year, and criticised what it said were union claims for exemptions for conjunctivitis, cold sores, herpes and ingrowing toenails - though the union denied some of these claims.
Another key issue is union demands for higher pay grades for cabin crew, and anger that the airline wants to reduce the number of higher-paid purser roles on aircraft, reducing opportunities for promotion, although the total number of cabin crew on each flight will remain the same.
BA has said the demands would cost the company £37m; the union says the figure is £10m.
The airline is also still in a vulnerable position over a proposed deal to plug its £2.1bn pensions deficit. Two unions have recommended the deal to their members, but the GMB has told members to reject the company's offer of a cash injection in return for reduced benefits, and the T&G has not yet responded.
At the same time BA has a new round of pay negotiations hanging over it and it is still in the early stages of agreeing with unions on new terms and conditions for when the airline moves to the new Terminal Five at Heathrow next year.
Three-quarters of BA staff are members of one of the four main unions: the T&G, Amicus, the GMB and Balpa, the pilots' union.
For this week's two-day stoppage, most short-haul flights have been axed, but the airline plans to run six of the nine daily long-haul services from Gatwick and a 'substantial proportion' of inbound long-haul routes to Heathrow. For information from BA and to rebook or refund tickets contact www.ba.com or 0800 727 800.
