The Times
March 29, 2010

British Airways planes were parked at Heathrow after the airline had to cancel 42 per cent of departures yesterday

Philip Pank, Transport Correspondent British Airways cancelled hundreds of flights from its hub at Heathrow airport yesterday as the cabin crew strike entered its fifth day.

The Unite union said it would call a third phase of industrial action after Easter, if no breakthrough was achieved in the dispute over the airline’s cost-cutting plans.

BA insisted that its biggest ever contingency plan was working, but 227 flights to and from London’s Heathrow airport were cancelled yesterday, grounding one in three BA flights.

The airline said in a statement that it had got off to a "strong start" yesterday.

It said that by using a combination of crews willing to cross the picket line, charter flights and seats on rival airlines it had managed to get 75 per cent of passengers to their destinations yesterday.

BA cancelled one in three long-haul flights from Heathrow yesterday and 45 per cent of its short-haul programme.

The figures are an improvement on the first phase of the stoppage last weekend, when the airline said that it had flown 60 per cent of long-haul passengers from Heathrow and kept just 30 per cent of short-haul flights operating.

At Gatwick and London City airport, BA operations have been unaffected this weekend.

"As expected, crew-reporting levels at Heathrow matched the flying programme we planned and delivered. Crew continued to report as normal at Gatwick, as they did last weekend during the first strike period. London City operated as normal," it said.

Unite, which called the strike over changes to working practices, disputed BA’s figures.

It said that scores of Heathrow flights were cancelled yesterday evening, and insisted that the continued walkout was disrupting the airline’s ability to fly.

Thousands of passengers are being flown on 11 aircraft chartered by BA, with non-BA crew. Thousands more have been found seats on rival airlines.

"BA’s bullying is backfiring. Instead of being cowed by their employer’s aggression, cabin crew are striking, forcing BA to cancel ever growing numbers of flights," said Len McCluskey, Unite assistant general secretary.

"Yesterday, hundreds of fed up passengers, encouraged to travel by management’s exaggerated claims, were dumped in the terminal because the airline ran out of strike-breakers."

He added: "Without its cabin crew, BA cannot function. It has to end this lunacy now and get back around the table to find a solution."

Unite has ruled out further strikes during Easter, but has warned that crews may walk out from April 14 if the dispute remains in deadlock.

Neither side shows any sign of backing down. The BA chief executive, Willie Walsh, told The Sunday Times: "If this was a war of attrition I think it is something BA would win." Striking cabin crew members joined four picket lines around the perimeter of Heathrow airport. Inside Terminal 5, which handles most BA flights, the airport remained quiet.

The current five-day stoppage ends at midnight on Tuesday. It follows a three-day strike last weekend