BA could be hit by pilots strike
22 January 2008The British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa) has confirmed that its members working for British Airways are to vote on strike action.
Almost all of BA's 3,200 pilots are represented by the union, meaning that industrial action taken by its members could cause the airline's services to grind to a halt.
Balpa said that the decision to ballot was based on BA's refusal to ensure that there is access to jobs between the carrier and its new European sister airline OpenSkies.
Jim McAuslan, the union's general secretary, claimed that the action is not about money and not, contrary to some newspaper reports, about safety, following the crash landing of a BA plane at Heathrow airport on January 17th.
He added: "We have been prepared to accept that a new service will need lower costs to build business and that Balpa would be able to crew the service to meet the BA business case, but we are not prepared to see the pilot body broken up in the way BA plans and are bemused as to why they will not use BA pilots.
"There are fears, borne out by BA's intransigence, that BA's real aim is to start an outsourcing programme that will eventually force down BA pilot conditions."
The development, which could see travellers relying on their travel insurance in the event of delays and cancellations, follows recent threats of a strike by Virgin Atlantic's cabin crew, which was averted at the last minute.