The first ever strike by British Airways pilots will go ahead next week, and the airline has told its corporate clients that the “vast majority” of its flights will be cancelled on Monday, September 9 and Tuesday, September 10.
Operations from London City airport (BA CityFlyer, SUN-AIR and Comair) are unaffected.
Pilot union BALPA yesterday offered to cancel the strikes, but BA has said the offer of those talks came with “pre-conditions”.
Earlier today, the airline said: “We're extremely sorry for the problems caused by the strike action called by the pilots’ union, BALPA on 9, 10 and 27 September.
“Our customer teams – supported by additional colleagues - have been working tirelessly to help as many of you as possible and to provide options, including a full refund or re-booking to a different date of travel or alternative airline.
“We continue to be available for constructive talks with BALPA, on the basis that there are no pre-conditions to those talks. If you have a flight booked with us on those dates, it is likely that you will not be able to travel as planned due to BALPA’s strike action.
“We are offering all affected customers full refunds or the option to re-book to another date of travel or alternative airline.”
The airline has communicated the strike dates to its corporate customers and other trade channels, however owing to the scale of the industrial action some business travellers may not have received notification. Any concerned travellers are being advised to check its trade portal at britishairways.com/en-gb/traveltrade.
Meanwhile, Buying Business Travel's sister title Business Traveller has compiled a useful Q&A for passengers here.
Are you affected by the strikes? Email us with your experiences.