London: British Airways (BA) is scrambling to deal with the start of a three-day strike by its cabin crew on Saturday that has thrown the plans of thousands of travellers into chaos.
BA has chartered planes from rival airlines, drafted in volunteer crew from among its other work force and rebooked some passengers on other services in a bid to keep as many passengers happy as possible.
Chief Executive Willie Walsh issued a direct apology to passengers via YouTube, saying it was a "terrible day for BA."
The Eurostar train service between London and continental Europe and Virgin's rail services between London and Scotland were expected to be busy as passengers sought alternate routes.
The Unite union has gathered some support from unions in the United States, Germany and Spain for its action, but they have so far stopped short of pledges for coordinated activity that would disrupt BA's ability to refuel and service the planes it is operating over the walkout.
Analysts estimate that BA has already lost more than 25 million pounds (more than $37 million) because of cancelled tickets and the cost of contingency plans, which include leasing fully crewed planes from other airlines.
As well as financially damaging for BA, the strike is also an unwelcome turn of events for the ruling Labour Party on the eve of a national election. Prime Minister Gordon Brown sparked the ire of Unite, a major political donor, by calling it "deplorable," and as late as Friday evening was urging the union to call it off.
The prospect of travel chaos in Britain in the run-up to the Easter break intensifed during the week after railway signal workers voted in favour of a strike, joining rail maintenance workers.
The Rail Maritime and Transport union has not called dates for a walkout of both groups of workers but has refused to rule out the Easter long weekend.
"As the country struggles out of the recession, the last thing we need is the unions holding the country to ransom," said Theresa Villiers, the opposition Conservative Party's transport spokeswoman.
BA said it planned to handle as many as 49,000 passengers on each of the first two planned strike days. That compares with the average 75,000 for a normal weekend day in March.
At its Heathrow base, more than 60 per cent of long-haul flights will operate, but only 30 percent of short-haul. At Gatwick, all long-haul flights and more than half short-haul flights will run as normal.
BA said some passengers avoided the disruption by bringing their flights forward by a day, including those with tickets to the Six Nations rugby match between France and England in Paris on Saturday evening.
Adding to the travel difficulties over the weekend, the London Underground will be closed between central London and Heathrow because of planned engineering work. The Heathrow Express train service will be operating as normal.
Picket lines will be mounted over the weekend at several entrances to Heathrow, but Walsh said he had "no concern whatsoever" about the threat of solidarity actions in other countries.
The US International Brotherhood of Teamsters urged travelers to find alternatives during the strike.
"We are keenly aware of British Airways' operations in the United States and the cities served by the airline," the Teamsters, who represent 40,000 workers in the aviation industry, said in a statement. "We continue to look at this situation as it evolves and are keeping our options open."
BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh said it was "deeply regrettable" that the union declined to accept a proposal on pay and working conditions from the airline.
BA argues that the disputed changes are critical for its survival. Unite argues it was not properly consulted on the changes.
The charges include a pay freeze in 2010, a switch to part-time work for 3,000 staff and a reduction in cabin crew sizes from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from Heathrow airport.
The airline said Friday it had offered to modify the changes, even though they had been approved by Britain's High Court, but Unite had declined to put the offer to its members to vote.
Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley said that BA "does not want to negotiate and ultimately wants to go to war with this union."
Unite has a second, four-day walkout planned to begin on March 27 and has said more strikes will be scheduled for after April 14 if the dispute is not resolved. It has made a pledge not to walk out over the busy Easter period.
Are you planning to travel to the UK in the near future? Has the British Airways strike affected you? How?
