British Airways has pledged that new strike action approved by its cabin crew on Monday will not hit its Gulf passengers, the carrier said Tuesday.
For the fourth time in two years, crew employed by the British airline have overwhelmingly voted to strike in an ongoing row over pay and working conditions that dates back to 2009.
British Airways is thought to have lost millions in revenue; not only as a direct result of the strikes, but also as passengers switch away to rival airlines.
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The British carrier, which employs 13,500 cabin crew, said it would take measures to stop strike actions affecting air travellers. Walkouts last summer led to the cancellation of scheduled flights on the carrier’s Middle Eastern routes, including Dubai, Doha and Bahrain.
“If a strike does take place, we have strong contingency plans in place [and] aim to fly 100 percent of our long-haul flights to and from London Heathrow,” BA said in a statement.
Unite has not set any dates for the proposed strike action and is required to give BA seven days notice before it implementing any work stoppages.
Any industrial action will deal a further blow to British Airways, which last year merged with Spain’s Iberia to form IAG. The airline posted a pre-tax profit of €21m ($29m) for the final three months of 2010, compared to a loss of €208m ($293m) in the same period in 2009.
BA's dispute with its cabin crew is the most protracted dispute in UK aviation history.
In a statement, the trade union Unite said BA must think again about how to regain the confidence of its staff.
“We continue to be in discussions with the company to find a solution to this long-running dispute,” Len McCluskey, the union’s general secretary, said.
In European neighbour Spain, staff at the country’s state-owned airport operator have also threatened to strike during the summer’s busiest season over plans to privatise the company.
The union has called for AENA employees to hold work stoppages during the Easter holiday week in April, five days in May, three days in June, six days in July and three days in August, a spokesman at the Comisiones Obreras union in Madrid told Bloomberg.
Spain’s government, which is struggling to reduce one of Europe’s largest budget deficits, plans to sell as much as 49 percent of the airport operator.
Ryanair, one of the largest airlines in Europe, has called on the European Commission to intervene in the dispute, which comes at the peak of Spain’s vital tourism season.
“Europe's airlines and passengers suffered at the hands of air traffic control providers throughout 2010. Ryanair will not allow its passengers to be inconvenienced further by the selfish strike action by AENA workers," Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said.
Several Gulf airlines operate scheduled flights to Spanish cities. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways operate to Madrid and Barcelona, while Dubai’s Emirates Airline and Saudi Airlines operate to Madrid.
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