MSE News: British Airways strike threat - should you book BA?

Rosie75

qwerty123456 wrote: »

If there was a yes to the strike then the latest it could start is 22nd March making Easter disruption out of the question.

Is this true? Some of the newspapers are reporting as if it were a foregone conclusion that the strike will be over Easter. Are there regulations concerning the timeframe from ballot to strike?
ETA: Just googled and discovered that any strike action must take place within 28 days of a "yes" vote. But presumably they could just prolong the time taken to organise or complete the ballot to make sure Easter falls within those 28 days? Given the rhetoric that Unite are spouting, I can't believe they won't aim for maximum disruption.

whatusername

Unite IMO are hanging BA cc out to dry and the head henchos are massaging their own ego's

PolishBigSpender

whatusername wrote: »

I wouldn't count on it, many many staff are furious at the way the union handled it but realise its the only way to bring their employers to the table.

I believe the strike will happen.

I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few people broke the strike, actually.

BA are in enough trouble, they really, really don't need another strike on their hands by greedy workers!

Thank God British unions aren't like the Polish ones though - who regularly go on hunger strikes over the pettiest of things!

Losinmoney

Oh dear! And have got the hotel booked too, with Airmiles....

jcorbygas

I have my flights booked with BA to fly out on 31st March and back on 5th April. I also have both my hotels booked and paid for, meals and days out booked, car parking booked etc.
I sincerely hope that the staff decide not to strike. When I spoke to a member of cabin crew last year she said it was not about the money, but the cutting of benefits the staff were upset about - they realise they get paid well. My father was a BA captain for many years and the amount of pension he gets its no wonder they are having monetary troubles!!

I shall just hope that it doesnt go ahead and that the staff do think about the fact that they might not have any jobs to go to in the future if they follow their unions advice.

whatusername

We shall wait and see, i wouldn't avoid booking with BA personally.

TonkaToys

Rosie75 wrote: »

The articles states: "If you've already got a BA flight booked and don't have travel insurance, consider taking out protection soon to cover costs if your flight is cancelled.".

I'd be interested to know which insurer would offer cover for strike action which appears to be a strong possibility at the time of taking out the policy?

The article also says:

Big names such as Aviva, Churchill and Direct Line say you will be covered if insurance is bought before strike dates are announced

But, Churchill have just told me that they will not cover me if I take out insurance now, even though dates have not been announced.

I'll try the others.

TonkaToys

Aviva have just told me "we will not cover you for any strike here".

TonkaToys

Direct Line and Churchill are both part of Royal Bank of Scotland, so I didn't bother waiting to see if their answer would be any different.
:mad:


British Airways themselves have an article about the strike: www. britishairways. com/travel/strike-ballot/public/en_gb

(sorry it isn't a link, I'm not allowed to post links yet)

The relevant bits are:

Customers booked to travel during that period will be able to rebook, free of charge and subject to availability, onto other British Airways flights outside of the strike period for up to 12 months from the original date of travel.
Refunds will be available if flights are actually cancelled.

That is quite good news, although (a little like Rosie75) I am meant to be going to Vegas to get married, so the last thing I want is to start the whole trip by being diverted off to Los Angeles or something.

I'll keep you posted if I see any other info.

voiceofreason

DaleN wrote: »

Their staff might as well go on strike and try to grab as much cash as they can now, because I can't see this airline surviving beyond the end of the year in its current form. Their only hope for survival is to be bought or merge with another airline, at which time the staff packages are likely to be forced down toward the industry norms which I understand are lower than where BA staff are now, along with the self-same redundancies they are already moaning about. So let them grab whatever cash they can now if they want. Because sure, strikes and cancelled flights are just the things needed to restore public confidence and increase bookings after a recession, aren't they?

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't book a flight on a failing airline. Just remember all the other airlines that have collapsed over the past few years. Big name airlines like Sabena, Swissair, Alitalia and - just today - JAL. How much warning did the public have? A few days at most. Most of us were blissfully unaware of their problems until their planes stopped flying. Do you think BA is immune? I wouldn't go anywhere near them.

Ah, the wondrous certainty that near-total ignorance of a subject brings.......

Being frank, I've rarely heard such utterly nonsensical rubbish on this forum. And that's saying something, kids. :T