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Three days of air travel misery have begun after British Airways cabin crew walked out in a dispute over cost-cutting.
Thousands of staff belonging to the Unite union stopped work at midnight after talks to avert the strike collapsed in acrimonious circumstances on Friday afternoon.
Following the failed negotiations, Unite joint leader Tony Woodley accused BA of wanting a "war", while the airline's chief executive Willie Walsh called the action "completely unjustified".
Heathrow will be hardest hit by the action, with picket lines at several entrances, but Gatwick is also affected.
Just under two-thirds (60%) of Heathrow's long-haul services are expected to fly this weekend and less than a third (30%) of short-haul. All long-haul flights to and from Gatwick are expected to operate, plus around half of short-haul flights.
BA said it is confident of handling as many as 49,000 passengers on Saturday and the same number on Sunday, which compares with a figure of around 75,000 for a normal weekend day in March. Some passengers are due to travel with other carriers on specially-chartered planes.
Another four-day stoppage is planned from March 27, and further action is expected from mid-April unless the deadlock is broken.
Mr Woodley said he was "extremely disappointed" that the talks at the TUC headquarters in London had failed, and he accused BA of tabling a worse offer than one withdrawn last week after the union announced this weekend's strike.
But BA chief Mr Walsh described the industrial action as "completely unjustified" and said the business had to "make changes".
The new deal tabled was not the same as the one withdrawn last week, he said, because BA had incurred "significant" extra expense because of the cost of its strike contingency plans and the number of passengers who have cancelled flights.
Reader views (3)
I will try and make this simple, so those who are going on strike will understand. I will NEVER fly BA again. Why risk booking a flight with an airline whose staff keep going on strike. Guess what .... many other people agree with me. So what do you think will happen ? BA will go bust, and you lot will all lose your jobs ! So well done, you really thought that one through.
- Paul H, London, 19/03/2010 20:06
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The BA "top" management should resign in shame. How with a company so deeply in trouble (delays, service issues) they let a strike break loose... Incredible. And normally it starts with the "top" the guy they hired from that budget airline Mr. Walsh.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 19/03/2010 19:04
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Well Tony you should have accepted the earlier offer and not announced strike dates which meant BA had to incurr expensive alternative plans. Your problem is you are dealing with a grown up who is also treating you as a grown up and not a child. Haven't done very well for your people have you?
- Stephen C, London, 19/03/2010 18:31
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