Chaos for Easter holiday flights as BA pilots vote to strike

Thousands of families could see their Easter holiday plans sabotaged after pilots voted to strike yesterday.

British Airways pilots, who earn up to £120,000, are threatening to walk out in the next few weeks in a bitter dispute over pay.

If the pilots choose to strike for the first time since 1980, it will "effectively ground BA worldwide", the British Air Line Pilots' Association said.

Balpa has not announced any strike dates and must give at least a week's notice.

Industry experts say the strike could cost the airline up to £25million a day. It would cause chaos for thousands of families planning to fly over the Easter weekend.

About 2.5million Britons went abroad last Easter, the majority by air.

Many school holidays begin the week before Easter Sunday, which falls on March 23 this year, though others do not start until early April.

Embarrassingly, the strike could coincide with the opening of the long-awaited Heathrow Terminal 5 on March 27.

It seals a bad week for the airline's passengers after further hikes in the fuel surcharge were revealed, which now costs up to £128 for a long-haul return flight.

The central issue in the strike is BA's launch of subsidiary airline OpenSkies in June, which will fly between Paris, Brussels and New York.

Pilots recruited to work for Open-Skies will be paid about 25 per cent less than BA pilots, according to Balpa.

BA pilots get between £26,000 and £120,000 depending on experience and whether they are a captain or first officer.

But the union fears BA management will use the lower paid Open-Skies pilots as a "Trojan horse" to force down general pay and conditions.

Jim McAuslan, Balpa's general secretary, said: "We have seen it happening around the world.

"BA pilots are determined not to let the same thing happen to them and to their families. That is why Balpa has drawn a line in the sand."

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Mr McAuslan insisted his members - who make up more than 90 per cent of BA's 3,200 pilots - have "no quarrel with the travelling public".

BA admits OpenSkies pilots will have different terms and conditions but insists this is necessary for a start-up airline.

Despite serial industrial problems at the airline with other staff, BA pilots have not voted to strike over pay since 1996.

On that occasion the dispute was resolved before a walkout took place. Even the last strike in 1980 lasted only a day.

But yesterday an overwhelming 86 per cent of Balpa members voted for a strike.

Yesterday BA and Balpa issued a joint statement insisting both sides have a "strong desire to achieve a peaceful outcome".

After a meeting the two sides agreed to take the dispute to an independent third-party conciliation process.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: "We are proud of the professionalism and high reputation of our pilots and have never sought conflict with them."