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British Airways (BA) appears to be winning a high-profile battle against its own cabin crew, that is, if airline boss, Willie Walsh, is telling the truth.
During a second four-day picket by airline stewards, BA halved the number of planes that it had borrowed from other airlines, including several loaned from budget airline, Jet2. Mr. Walsh said that BA’s daily output was not only tolerable, but ‘healthy,’ with up to 70% of long-haul flights completed on time.
Unite, the workers' union, has disputed everything that has come out of Willie Walsh’s mouth, however, and expressed unreserved anger at the Irish executive. The union now wants to raise £700,000 to keep the strike going as long as possible. Thousands of Unite branches will each donate £150 to a ‘fighting fund,’ designed to support picketers' families.
Whether the strike can continue indefinitely depends on the attitude of Willie Walsh and his beleaguered crew. BA has said that the number of strike breakers has risen by 6% over last weekend’s walkout, to 63% overall. Unite believes that attendance levels are closer to 15%, however, with £166 an hour pilots making up the numbers.
Despite the strike, Gatwick and London City airports are running at full capacity, and Heathrow enjoyed a 10% boost in flights over the recent weekend. Passenger numbers were also within normal levels, and BA helped an extra 17,000 people to their destinations on Saturday and Sunday.
From BA’s point of view, Unite is fighting a losing battle against the airline’s impressive contingency plans, but as the vast majority of the figures are copied verbatim from memos circulated by Willie Walsh, there’s no way of knowing who is telling the truth.
You can listen to Willie Walsh's take on the cabin crew strike at the BA website.
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