JD Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin on Friday urged pilots at British Airways to call off further strikes after this week’s industrial action hurt sales at the company’s Heathrow pubs.
Martin made the plea as Wetherspoon reported a 4.5% fall in pre-tax profits to £102.5 million in the year to July 28.
Parts of Heathrow resembled a “ghost town” this week after the BA pilots’ strike, and further walk-outs over pay are planned. Martin, whose dad was a fighter pilot, said looking at the numbers from his two Heathrow pubs this week “would be too depressing”.
He added: “It is time for pilots to bail out and stop striking. It is bad for retailers and bad for everyone [passengers].”
JD Wetherspoon, whose profits fell on the back of higher overheads including wage bills, saw annual sales rise 7.4% to £1.8 billion.
Comparable sales were up 6.8% during the period, and 5.9% higher in the six weeks to September 8.
