British Airways could face a bill for at least £40m as a result of the unofficial industrial action that has grounded all the airline's flights during the past two days.
The airline has not so far put a figure on the likely losses from the dispute, which has also disrupted the travel plans of some 100,000 passengers on Thursday and yesterday.
But analysts at the City investment bank Kleinwort Benson Wasserstein noted yesterday that an unofficial stoppage in the summer of 2003 cost the airline £40m and reckon the latest stoppage could have a similar impact.
That would put a sizeable hole in BA's profits, which DkrW had been expecting to be around £520m before the stoppage. In the three months to June 30 BA made profits of £124m as more passengers chose to travel in first or business class.
Chris Tarry, an independent aviation analyst, was cautious about predicting the financial outcome for BA. The final bill would be determined by factors such as how much it had to pay out in compensation and in providing accommodation for stranded passengers as well as the amount of revenue raised from ticket sales which would be lost because of refunds or passengers switching to other carriers.
"All sorts of calculations can be made. It is not just a question of dividing the numbers by 365. It is much more complicated than that," he said.
As well as the unofficial stoppage in 2003, BA also came close to facing industrial action last summer in a dispute about pay.
Caroline James, aviation and business travel reporter at Travel Weekly, said BA could face a backlash with customers switching to other airlines because of concerns about industrial action. "This is the third year running passengers have faced uncertainty. I think we may see some fallout over the next few months when passengers are booking holidays. We may see some people switching bookings over the remainder of the summer."
But she added: "Whether that is sustained remains to be seen. We are talking about the largest carrier in and out of the UK. People are still going to have to travel with them."
Ms James said the dispute had "come out of leftfield", initially catching BA unprepared, but questioned whether it showed existing dissatisfaction among the workforce. "You have to ask why this happened in the first place," she said.
Mr Tarry said though the dispute had arisen from the clash between management and workers at catering company Gate Gourmet the unofficial action by BA staff highlighted the problems the airline could face when it brought all its operations at Heathrow together at the new Terminal 5.
Most of BA's operations will be switched to the terminal in 2008 and by 2011 it will house them all, cutting costs and putting the UK flag carrier on a par with Lufthansa in Frankfurt and Air France in Paris.
Mr Tarry said it was vital that BA continued to take cost out of the business. "You have to look at the realities. BA did have a very good last quarter but the increase in revenues came from a better mix [between first, business and economy passengers] rather than a fundamental improvement in the underlying market."
As the airline continued its drive to cut costs, particularly in relation to its move to Terminal 5, this week's dispute "will give BA a reminder of the challenges ahead", he said.
