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British Airways pilots strike – what you need to know for Monday, Tuesday and 27th September

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Pilot unit BALPA is staging a number of strikes throughout September.  BALPA represents about 90% of British Airways pilots.

The strike dates are Monday 9th, Tuesday 10th and Friday 27th September.

You can find the latest information on this special strike page of ba.com.

Note that flights from London City Airport are not impacted, except for the New York service which is operated by Gatwick flight crew.

BA 747 retirement

Monday 9th / Tuesday 10th – what is cancelled?

Everything, basically.

Only ONE British Airways flight was operating from Terminal 5 on Monday 9th September.  This was a Tokyo service and was retained due to the Rugby World Cup.  The only other flights operating were to Cairo (operated by Air Belgium at the moment due to a shortage of BA aircraft) and the Iberia flights to Madrid.

From Gatwick, the only flight was a New York JFK service which is currently operated by Evelop Airlines on behalf of BA, again due to a shortage of BA aircraft.

All passengers were contacted over two weeks in advance of travel.  Despite some initial hiccups (which forced The Civil Aviation Authority to publish this statement) British Airways was eventually very proactive in moving passengers to other airlines with over 50 carriers involved.

What about Wednesday 11th?

A normal schedule will operate, although some services are likely to be cancelled due to planes and staff being in the wrong place.  There is no space at Heathrow to store the entire British Airways fleet, and so aircraft have had to be parked at other airports across the world.

What about Friday 27th?

Cancellations have not yet been done for the strike on 27th September.

The cut-off date for British Airways is 13th September, which is the last date they can cancel your flight without offering compensation on top of a reroute.  Note that some flights on 28th and potentially also 26th will also be cancelled for operational reasons.

What can I claim if I am stranded abroad?

For people stranded abroad, British Airways has confirmed that the standard £200 per night per room hotel allowance will be available.  This can be exceeded but only if you have strong evidence that no rooms are available for that price.  You cannot remain in a £500 beach resort and reclaim that if there is an airport hotel available for under £200.

Other subsistence costs (food, taxis etc) can also be claimed.

You are not technically liable for additional costs incurred in the UK before or after travel due to date changes, but it is worth submitting receipts to BA anyway.

Will I receive Avios and tier points for cancelled flights?

Yes.  If you accepted a refund or were moved to a non-oneworld airline, you can ask BA to credit you with the Avios and tier points you would otherwise have earned.

Don’t forget to sign up to earn points from the airline you were moved to, if it is not a BA partner!  Nothing stops you earning twice.

Could the strikes be called off?

BALPA has offered to reopen talks with British Airways, but the airline has stated that no new offer is available.  The airline appears to have decided to push on with strikes rather than accept the pilot demands for profit sharing.

Can more strikes be called?

Yes, but 14 days notice must be given.  Your trip is safe once you are inside the 14 day period.

(And, to be honest, a lot of people have been getting some good results in terms of alternative carriers!  Being moved from British Airways onto Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines etc etc – if you are travelling in Business Class – would be a good result.)

BALPA’s strike ballot, held earlier this summer, is valid until January.  This allows BALPA to continue calling strikes throughout the Autumn without requiring a further member vote.

For the latest information, check out ba.com here.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (417)

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

  • S says:
    23 Aug23 August 17:11

    When will flight cancellations be announced??we return from Vegas on the 9th on our year planned holiday using 2-4-1 Avios.

  • mutley says:
    23 Aug23 August 17:23

    BA will (eventually) fold in this dispute.

    • Rhys says:
      23 Aug23 August 17:24

      I agree, wouldn’t be surprised if these strikes don’t get cancelled at the 11th hour like the previous ones…of course that’s of little consolation to anyone who now faces massive uncertainty on those days! In a way, once the strikes are announced it almost doesn’t matter if they go ahead or not – the damage has been done

      • Simon says:
        23 Aug23 August 17:31

        The previous strike dates were Unite and Heathrow though. I wonder if these will come back again next month, haven’t heard anything that the Unite workers have accepted the improved offer.

        • Rhys says:
          23 Aug23 August 17:36

          Correct – although, from what Alex Cruz said, it sounds like BA and BALPA were actually very close to a compromise.

  • Trevor says:
    23 Aug23 August 17:25

    Do hope, Rob, that you will be able to provide some advice for those of us who are affected – when we might be asked whether we wish to be rebooked or cancel. Whether it is better to be rebooked then cancel – is it right we lose any claim to compensation if we accept a cancellation?

    Having been treated, as passengers, so badly by this airline – many of us would like to receive any compensation we are due as BA are well known for using every trick to wriggle out of paying what is due.

    • Rob says:
      23 Aug23 August 17:41

      You are due nothing beyond a refund from BA if they can prove ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under EU261. If you are stranded abroad you would get usual ‘duty of care’. In theory they need to try to reaccomodate you but good look with that.

      • Andrew says:
        23 Aug23 August 18:06

        Although to be fair BA’s FAQs say they’ll lay £200/room/night for a hotel if you’re stranded, assuming two people sharing.

      • Roy says:
        23 Aug23 August 18:14

        I thought strikes by an airline’s own staff are deemed within the airline’s control, and therefore not regarded as extraordinary circumstances.

        Or am I mistaken?

        • Andrew says:
          23 Aug23 August 18:19

          Either way, Balpa have been “kind” and given more than 14 days’ notice. If BA cancels rh flight more than 14 days out, no compo due, whatever the reason.

        • Shoestring says:
          23 Aug23 August 18:26

          It’s a common misconception and the simple answer is that it would need to be proven one way or the other by a UK court. Internal strike by pilots, well observed, is completely different to internal strike by a smallish section of cabin crew. With the pilots, the airline stands no possible chance of taking reasonable steps to avert cancellations. So they win the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ provision.

          But as mentioned, BA would definitely have an absolute obligation in law to provide you with duty of care until you can be re-ticketed to get to your destination. Just no compo.

          • Roy says:
            23 Aug23 August 22:17

            Unlike strikes by a third party, strikes by BA’s own employees are not beyond BA’s control, in the the sense that labour relations are very much in an employer’s control.

            I agree we won’t know for sure, though, until tested in court.

  • putnik says:
    23 Aug23 August 17:28

    What happens if only the inbound (return) leg of a journey is affected by the strike? We are due to fly out to Tenerife with BA on 3 September and scheduled to fly back with them on 9 September. My understanding is that passengers are not entitled to any monetary compensation, except for the actual cost of the flight, if they are informed of a flight cancellation at least 14 days prior to the departure of the affected flight. However, if the strike only affects the return leg of the journey, will BA cancel the outgoing flight as well? What happens if the inbound flight is cancelled after the outbound flight has departed, i.e. when passenger have already arrived at their holiday destinations and are unable to return home on their originally booked flight? I assume that BA will try to rebook such passengers on the first available flight back home, but is there any chance of making our own arrangements for getting back home on 9 September and reclaiming the cost of the alternative flight bookings for the return journey from BA? I am worried that by the time BA gets its act together, all remaining flights between Tenerife and London with other airlines on 9-10 September, when BA pilots are due to strike, will be sold out. Any thoughts on the best course of action in this case?

    • Joan says:
      23 Aug23 August 17:42

      I’m in the same boat ( or plane ) as you as an due to fly home from Almeria on 9 September, do not sure whether to just fly out as planned on 2nd and hope for the best !

    • Mark says:
      23 Aug23 August 17:47

      Most likely in this case they will reroute you with Iberia via Madrid. There wouldn’t be any logic in their cancelling your outbound, given the strike may still be called off in the interim, however I’d be prepared for a somewhat longer journey back than expected.

      If you try to book an alternative yourself in the meantime you run a significant risk of paying twice (assuming your BA flights are not refundable).

      • Joan says:
        23 Aug23 August 17:54

        Ah thank you – well we booked club Europe on avios so the cost was very little – so not sure where that leaves us 🤷‍♀️

        • Mark says:
          23 Aug23 August 18:02

          Given the redemption is cancellable / changeable for a small fee you might want to look at alternative flights back and weigh up your options. I suspect the challenge for the Iberia reroutes will be the Madrid to London capacity will fill up pretty quickly, even if they have the ability to run a few more A340s.

        • Mark says:
          23 Aug23 August 18:09

          On a reroute you also may find yourself deposited back at Heathrow instead of Gatwick… There’s a direct Easyjet service to Gatwick that might be worth considering switching to. It’s possible you could be switched to that anyway at BA’s expense, but no guarantee of course.

  • Simon says:
    23 Aug23 August 17:33

    hmm, I have an overnight leaving on the 8th… Will keep an eye on this.
    Lloyds voucher too, just to complicate things.

  • Colin MacKinnon says:
    23 Aug23 August 17:44

    What happens with crews away from base and due to fly back to LHR on a strike day – do they just stay in their hotels for an extra 24 hrs and then take the aircraft back to blighty?

    • Andrew says:
      23 Aug23 August 18:21

      In my experience they fly their whole roster and strike when they’re back (or not at all, if the call to strike is for “trips starting on”…)

  • LewisB says:
    23 Aug23 August 17:57

    Fewf. I’m flying F on the 26th, and on the A380, so in theory, I should be safe…

  • fivebobbill says:
    23 Aug23 August 18:20

    Can anyone with any experience of these 1-day strikes give me any idea what the knock-on effects, if any, usually are. Primarily concerned about the 27th Sept one (a Friday), as 4 of us are flying BA Club on Monday 30th, DUB-LHR-TLV.
    If this strike does go ahead, is it safe to assume that everything will be back to normal by then?

    • Shoestring says:
      23 Aug23 August 18:51

      normally takes a day of disruption after the strike finishes to position flights correctly again – so on the 30th you should be fine in theory

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

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