British Airways will again be using Qatar Airways’ aircraft as its latest cabin crew strike begins.
The next round of industrial action by BA’s “mixed fleet” cabin crew, who are members of the Unite union, was due to start at 00.01 on Wednesday (July 19) and will run until 23:59 on August 1.
The latest two-week stoppage comes just three days after the last 16-day strike ended on Sunday (July 16).
BA said in a statement: “As during Unite's previous industrial action, we will ensure all our customers reach their destinations. In the current strike period, we are operating 99.5 per cent of our normal schedule.
“Instead of calling further completely unnecessary strikes, Unite should allow its members a vote on the pay deal we reached two months ago.
“It seems extraordinary that a trade union should ask its members to give up their pay and benefits for virtually the whole of July, trying to target the holidays of hard-working families, rather than give those members a chance to settle the central issue of the dispute.”
The dispute is over pay and what Unite calls “the sanctioning of striking workers”.
The union has taken legal action to stop BA from using Qatar Airways aircraft during the industrial action, claiming that it "breaches" EU regulations but this has not been successful.