British Airways, pilots union to continue talks to avert strike

Bloomberg

British Airways (BA) will continue talks with pilot representatives next week in a bid to defuse a pay dispute and avoid a walkout by its most crucial employees at the height of the summer travel season.
The British Airlines Pilots Association (Balpa) agreed to extend negotiations with former the former UK flag carrier, now a unit of IAG SA, after three days of meetings at the state-backed Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, it said.
“Balpa will not announce any industrial action dates at this time,” the union said, adding that it is “still committed to finding a negotiated solution.”
Balpa had said it would talk until the end of the week and give management a required two-week strike notice if it failed to secure a deal. The parties resumed talks after a court threw out a BA bid to block the strike plans. Crews have voted by a 93 percent majority to approve industrial action, which the carrier has said could cost about $48 million per day.
Adding to concerns for UK holiday makers, London’s Heathrow Airport cancelled 172 flights on Monday and on Tuesday as a separate union voted for industrial action, the BBC reported. The Unite union’s members voted to strike on both days, affecting 91 airlines, including British Airways, according to the report.
The labour conflicts come as British Airways is also facing pressure from a possible no-deal Brexit that could damp travel as Britons curb spending due to the weaker pound. The carrier is “open and flexible” to finding a solution, it said as earlier talks were ongoing.
Any strike would come at the tail end of the peak season for European travel and could dent IAG earnings that are highly dependent on BA.
The UK carrier’s lucrative long-haul routes helped lift the group’s second-quarter operating profit 18 percent — the best performance among leading European carriers.
Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said other IAG airlines, including Iberia and Vueling in Spain and Ireland’s Aer Lingus, would help in the event of any labour strife at BA.
It would also try to benefit from any reduction in capacity if strikes go ahead, he said. “BA will do whatever they can do to assist the customers,” Walsh said on a results call with analysts.
“The rest of the group will do what they can do to take advantage of the unfortunate situation and support and help BA in their efforts to look after customers.”