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Tag: British Airway

  • British Airways discontinues the sale of brand-new tickets for Heathrow-bound flights

    British Airways has suspended selling short-haul flights from Heathrow for at least a week.

    The industry is struggling to meet the demand for air travel due to labor shortages, and tens of thousands of flights have already been canceled this summer.

    The decision to halt new reservations for domestic and European flights until Monday included is taken to adhere to Heathrow’s passenger capacity limit, the airline said.

    In a statement, BA said: “As a result of Heathrow’s request to limit new bookings, we’ve decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximize rebooking options for existing customers, given the restrictions imposed on us and the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry.”

    The unprecedented move will result in thousands of seats being removed from sale and potentially increase demand and inflate prices with rival firms.

    Tens of thousands of flights have already been cancelled this summer as the industry struggles to cope with the demand for air travel amid staffing shortages.

    Up until September 11th, Heathrow will allow no more than 100,000 departing passengers per day.
    In response to Heathrow’s passenger capacity limit, BA had previously announced it will cancel 10,300 flights through to  October, which is expected to affect one million passengers.

    The suspension of BA’s short-haul flights from Heathrow comes after many passengers flying to and from the UK’s busiest airport have suffered severe disruption in recent months, with long security queues and baggage system breakdowns.

    Middle Eastern airline Emirates rejected Heathrow’s order to cancel flights to comply with its cap.

    The airline accused the airport of showing “blatant disregard for consumers” by attempting to force it to “deny seats to tens of thousands of travelers” through the cap.

    A Heathrow spokeswoman said at the time it would be “disappointing” if “any airline would want to put profit ahead of a safe and reliable passenger journey”.

    Virgin Atlantic also criticized the airport’s actions and claimed it was responsible for failures that are contributing to the chaos.

    Meanwhile, on 21 July airlines were accused of “harmful practices” in their treatment of passengers affected by the disruption.

    The Competition and Markets Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority issued a joint letter to carriers, expressing concern that “consumers could experience significant harm unless airlines meet their obligations”.

    The letter stated: “We are concerned that some airlines may not be doing everything they could to avoid engaging in one or more harmful practices.”

    These include selling more tickets for flights “than they can reasonably expect to supply”, not always “fully satisfying obligations” to offer flights on alternative airlines to passengers affected by cancellations, and failing to give consumers “sufficiently clear and upfront information about their rights”.

     

  • British Airways strike due to start at midnight

    British Airways pilots will begin a two-day strike at midnight in their ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.

    Passengers are being told not to go to airports and BA says most have made alternative arrangements.

    Both BA and the pilots’ union Balpa have indicated that they are willing to start new talks.

    Nonetheless the vast majority of BA flights taking off from the UK on Monday and Tuesday have been cancelled.

    British Airways presents BA 2119; flight of the future

    There will also be a knock-on effect to flights before and after the strike, because planes and pilots need to be in position for prior and subsequent journeys.

    Pay dispute
    In its most recent announcement, BA said: “we remain ready and willing to return to talks with Balpa.”

    Meanwhile Balpa indicated that “BA pilots could call off strike if airline agrees to negotiate on new proposal”. It says the strikes are a “last resort” born out of “enormous frustration” with airline management.

    Pilots previously rejected a pay increase worth 11.5% over three years, which was proposed by the airline in July.

    Balpa says that its members have taken lower pay rises and made sacrifices during more stringent times for the airline in recent years. The union insists that now that BA’s financial performance has improved – its parent company IAG reported a 9% rise in profits last year – they should see a greater share of the profits.

    Meet the Ghanaian who saved an old man on board British Airways from dying

    BA says its pilots already receive “world-class” salaries. The airline believes the pay offer is “fair and generous”, and that it if it is good enough for BA cabin crew, ground staff and engineers – whose unions, Unite and the GMB, have both accepted it – it should be good enough for pilots too.

    The airline says once the 11.5% pay deal has fully taken effect in three years’ time, some BA captains could be taking home more than £200,000 a year, allowances included.

    Two weeks ago, BA informed some customers they would have to re-book their flights next week due to the planned industrial action.

    Unfortunately, due to “human error” the airline mistakenly sent emails to some customers whose flights were not actually affected, throwing BA’s customer service operations into a tailspin over the bank holiday weekend.

    On Friday, BA said that the “vast majority” of affected customers had now either accepted a refund or rebooked, either on alternative dates or with other airlines.

    Source: bbc.com