A strike ballot of all 3,200 British Airways (BA) pilots is to go ahead one week today (29 January) after negotiations to avert a walkout collapsed.
The British Air Line Pilots Association (BALPA) says that talks concerning BA”s new OpenSkies operation ”are finished,” although the airline insists that: ”We are negotiating with BALPA.”
”We have been prepared to accept that a new service will need lower costs to build the business and that BALPA would be able to crew it to meet the BA business case,” said the Union in a statement.
”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. We hope the BA leadership will think again.”
The original ballot was scheduled for 17 January although this was postponed due to the Boeing 777 incident last week, but a rough timetable, including a legal notice period, could see strike action endorsed some five weeks from today.
Should a strike occur, it would be the first time since 1980, that BA flight deck members have walked out.
That would take any potential action perilously close to BA”s opening of its spectacular new Terminal 5 and plunge the company into chaos at a time when it is looking to put the much-documented Heathrow problems behind it.
BALPA says it fears BA”s aim is to start an outsourcing programme that will change pilot conditions. ”BA wants the OpenSkies pilots not trained and experienced as much as those in the mainline,” a BALPA spokesman told ABTN.
”Can a pilot come in from OpenSkies as a Captain? [with BA] The answer is no and he would have to have a training procedure. Most pilots are shareholders and we think the brand will be diluted.”
BA has robustly defended its position and insists that OpenSkies will have no detrimental impact on BA pilots. ”We are disappointed that BALPA has confirmed its intention to ballot members for industrial action,” said the airline.
”There is no change to the terms and conditions for BA pilots, which are among the best in the industry.”
But there appears to be a genuine sticking point about whether or not OpenSkies flight crew could in fact work for BA. Calls to the carrier failed to confirm whether this was the case and the airline confined itself to noting: ”We have told BALPA that we will offer secondments to BA pilots wishing to work for OpenSkies, with their pensions and seniority protected.
”Open Skies is being launched in a highly competitive market and demands a flexible model to stay ahead of the competition.”
BA will launch OpenSkies in June this year with one 757 operating from either JFK or Newark New York to either Brussels or Paris Charles de Gaulle. A second aircraft will be added later this year, with a total of six 757s sourced from the current BA fleet planned to operate by the end of 2009.