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First two BA strike dates announced – and what you can do to prepare

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Unite has announced the first two strike dates for British Airways mixed fleet cabin crew – Sunday 25 December and Monday 26 December 2016.

The current plan is to operate all long haul services.  Services from Gatwick and London City will not be impacted at all.

The following short haul routes are at risk of cancellation on 25th and 26th:

British Airways

  • Aberdeen
  • Bergen
  • Belfast City
  • Bilbao
  • Bologna
  • Basel
  • Budapest
  • Dusseldorf
  • Gibraltar
  • Gothenburg
  • Hannover
  • Hamburg
  • Helsinki
  • Kiev
  • Krakow
  • St Petersburg
  • Lisbon
  • Luxembourg
  • Manchester
  • Paris Orly
  • Oslo
  • Prague
  • Pisa
  • Stuttgart
  • Stavanger
  • Venice
  • Vienna
  • Warsaw
  • Zagreb

Passengers booked on these routes currently have the option of:

requesting a refund for their flight, or

transferring to another BA flight on a different day or

flying to another city within 300 miles not on the list above

BA will not move you to a different airline at this stage.  That would only be an option when your flight is definitely cancelled.

The official guidance on rebooking can be found here.


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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Comments (84)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • James says:

    Booked on Gothenburg to Sydney via LHR on 26th. Bugger.

  • uk1 says:

    I have to say that (hopefully) we’re lucky in that our flight plans shouldn’t be disrupted by this as we’re not on a MF flight and it is LH. I have a lot of sympathy for the MF crew who I believe has been shafted by managemen and I like the crew I encounter. However I no longer believe that the right response is for a strike. It seems to me that when workers were fighting for “rights” a generation or three ago, the right to inflict maximum damage on a company, industry or even as happened country might have had a germ of righteousness to it. But this isn’t about safety at work or exploitation in the 19th century sense it is about aout employees refusal to simply up sticks and go elsewhere for a better job if this one wasn’t what was promised. There is the other side to this sacrifice. MF are not the meek requiring societies collective support and sacrifice. There will be thousands of “human interest” stories of innocent people hoping for a “last Christmas” together, long planned family reunions, ….. in fact every passenger will have another unique’ish story. It isn’t about making other innocent people suffer and pay by the use of blackmai for a wrong that MF feel that BA have done them. Blackmailing BA by punishing the innocent isn’t a way to resolve this issue in modern times. It seems to me that these days many of us are shafted in employment. It is wrong, but it is the way of things. Zero hours, below legal pay etc. The answer is to use your ultimate power as an individual and take your effort elsewhere where it receives it’s genuine market value.

    To repeat, MF have my sympathy and good wishes, butganging up and hurting the innocent is selfish.

    • Boris says:

      Just for accuracy, repeated polls show that the large majority of people on zero hours contracts are satisfied with it.

      It is TUs and their friends using little people as unwilling cannon fodder. Plus ca change.

      • Ramones says:

        It is very clear that some readers in this forum are fortunate enough to be in senior management roles in their chosen profession and therefore out of touch with inequality issues in their workplace.

        • uk1 says:

          >>It is very clear that some readers in this forum are fortunate enough to be in senior management roles in their chosen profession and therefore out of touch with inequality issues in their workplace.<<

          And some people are "out of touch" because they found it so tough to cope with the unfairness of employment, they started their own businesses and became their own boss.

          • Ramones says:

            Do you actually employ any staff or are you working the system? Pay the wife a salary from my limited company or the classic pay less tax/NI as a self employed contractor?

  • Alexey says:

    Any details about baggage handlers strike ? any specific dates ?

    I have a BA flight on Dec 25 from LHR and well as my parents on the same day to other destination , both destinations not listed here … but …

  • Pojapoja says:

    Extremely OT:

    I have a Hilton free night voucher which expires next month courtesy of the Barclaycard, and I’m off to Vietnam for 2 weeks. After hesitation, I’ve decided not to redeem it for the Hilton Hanoi Opera as it just doesn’t seem worth it, so I’ve decided to incorporate it in a romantic weekend in London.

    Have any of you stayed at any Hilton’s in London? Which one is the best / where would I get the biggest value out of the free night? I’m currently Hilton Gold, and am thinking either the Hilton Park Lane or the Waldorf London. Any thoughts?

    • Rob says:

      Conrad is the best property. Waldorf is a Hilton and not a Waldorf-Astoria. Park Lane needs a bit of help but good views and big rooms, most of the time.

      • Anon says:

        Canary Wharf is nice but not exactly romantic.

        Shame your voucher expires soon as the Waldorf Astoiria in Edinburgh is worth the trip

    • AndyR says:

      Having stayed at Bankside, Canary Wharf, Conrad and Waldorf, I would go for Conrad, as Rob says it is the nicest property!

      • Pojapoja says:

        Thanks for all your responses. The Conrad does look very elegant indeed, though I think would have somewhat worse views than the Park Lane. Will make a decision soon!

  • Anon says:

    Bit of a blunder by BA, on the phone app last night they had the news on the strike and planned disruptions under the heading “Special Promotions” 🙂

  • Mike says:

    Fingers and toes crossed for everyone who is traveling over Xmas. I truly hope BA staff get a better deal out of this but at what cost ? The customer will end up paying more to fly. One thing’s for sure, BA won’t lose out financially.

  • Steve J says:

    Maybe MDM could supply readers and Internet users with a list of valid topics for us to discuss? Perhaps we could submit comments to him/her for approval?

    BA’s treatment of staff and conditions etc, and how staff respond, and how we as passengers feel or react, is totally within the scope of this forum, imho.

    As long as we are civil and play the ball not the man, what business is it of others about how to respond to what is *clearly* on topic responses to a thread about strikes?

  • JamesW says:

    Looks like someone just wanted to spend Christmas Day & Boxing Day in front of the telly !!!

    That said, the crew are paid peanuts and that should be changed. However without devaluing Avios or upping the RFS fees !

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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