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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.

  • Waddle says:
    7 Sep7 September 11:29

    When it says “re-route with another airline” does BA do the booking for you or do you have to book yourself and claim?

    • Shoestring says:
      7 Sep7 September 11:39

      do it online in MMB or phone them

    • Lady London says:
      7 Sep7 September 12:20

      Please see my comment above.

      It seems BA are forcing passengers to fund their own replacement flights in circumstances where it,’s clear BA is liable to provide them. Where means existe for BA to provide them just as well as thé passenger, whether GDS (airline system) or internet, BA should be made to provide those flights. Or trains or hôtels, for that matter.

      BA cant say they haven’t got an internet connections to do this.

      In clear cases where BA is liable, especially where it’s a simple air ticket needed to complete the rerouting as in thé exemple of Zagreb to Pula above (@Alan Young), BA should pay and provide the ticket upfront.

      Why should passengers have to shell out for things BA can book and pay for just as easily as the passenger? Then passenger waits for months and has to chase to get repaid.

    • Rob says:
      7 Sep7 September 13:15

      BA, via its approved list of carriers.

    • Waddle says:
      7 Sep7 September 16:22

      Thanks all. I’m flying CW to DXB on the 27th. If my flight is cancelled, would it be unreasonable to ask if BA can re-route me to AUH on Etihad in business? I see EY is on the approved list.

      • Shoestring says:
        7 Sep7 September 16:35

        absolutely fine – same class, effectively – the quicker you move the better – that’s not even a particularly long taxi journey, either

      • Rob says:
        7 Sep7 September 18:29

        If EY is on the approved list, then almost certainly.

  • r* says:
    7 Sep7 September 15:20

    Are there any longes currently available at jfk terminal 8 from either amex or priority pass? The only one i know of was the restaurant amex has now removed?

    Is it possible to access lounge in a different terminal or not worth the hassle?

  • David S says:
    8 Sep8 September 06:58

    A question for clarification.
    We have a MAN-LHR-JFK in F. Likely to be cancelled end of September.
    Once cancelled, there are no obvious One world “comparable” flights and only options I can see are Air France, Lufthansa or Swiss in F long haul and business short haul.
    Am I correct that BA should provide them if they cancel my BA flights?

    • Shoestring says:
      8 Sep8 September 08:28

      you are correct, though BA sometimes need prodding/ are very reluctant to re-ticket on an airline not on their pre-approved list of alternative airlines (which Raffles updated the other day)

      Don’t AA fly to New York?!!!

      surely with JFK/ any New York airport you’ll have all sorts of options open to you, even Virgin direct from Manchester

      • David S says:
        8 Sep8 September 15:24

        Thanks for your reply. We have paid for F, and there is no F out of Manchester direct and I don’t want to travel to LHR by road/ rail to get F with AA. Since airport parking and hotels are paid for and work commitments, we can’t move the days around. So realistically the only options are as above and the Lufthansa flights are not much different time wise leaving Manchester or arriving in NYC. Yes, I will lose my tier points if I don’t fly oneworld but not too bothered since day and time of departure is most important for me this time around. Just hoping that the red in my MMB hopefully doesn’t go cancelled but If it does, then hope BA offer my choice of LH for my convenience.

    • Jill (Kinkell) says:
      8 Sep8 September 10:34

      Is your flight in red on MMB? If it is then you have the option to phone up and rebook. We had a flight from ATL in F back toLHR and on to INV. on the 28th. It was identified for potential disruption, in red. I phoned and pushed it on 24 hrs. All sorted ! No charge to change, but we have to pay the extra night as the flight is not cancelled.

      • Jill (Kinkell) says:
        8 Sep8 September 10:36

        Ah…slightly different for outbound …sorry. Hope you get it sorted.

        • David S says:
          8 Sep8 September 15:26

          Hi Jill,
          Yes it is outbound which is a problem. Hopefully the flight doesn’t get cancelled.

      • Lady London says:
        8 Sep8 September 12:12

        Just to be clear, if BA had cancelled that flight resulting in an extra Night before they could fly you, then BA would have been liable for the extra night.

  • Anuj says:
    9 Sep9 September 03:40

    OT
    Does anyone know if it’s possible to use a Bonvoy free night certificate and points on the same stay? E.g use the certificate for the first night and points for the 2nd+ nights
    Thanks to anyone that knows !

    • Matthew says:
      9 Sep9 September 13:21

      Yes you can. But you have to call customer services to do it. I did that recently having booked 5 nights as a points advance then asked to use free night cert for one, points for 3 and last night was the free one (5 for 4).

  • Anna says:
    9 Sep9 September 07:06

    Piers Morgan Curt giving Alex Cruz a hard time on Good Morning Britain!

  • Andrew says:
    9 Sep9 September 07:28

    Should probably update the article with the “if the strikes get called off” bit. That ship has sailed!

  • JamesR says:
    9 Sep9 September 09:49

    Now these strikes have happened can all of us with flights in the coming months feel more assured pilots wont call more any time soon?

    • Shoestring says:
      9 Sep9 September 09:53

      not at all – the strike mandate runs until March 2020 – can be renewed – BALPA have said they will increase pressure on IAG if no agreement is reached, ie more strikes – plus there’s the strike on 27th September coming up

      • Lady London says:
        9 Sep9 September 18:11

        Do the pilots still have to give 2 weeks notice of any strike ahead of its date, within the period up to March 2020? or can they call sudden strikes?

  • LewisB says:
    9 Sep9 September 12:20

    Has anybody else not had their refund for the strike? It’s been 15 days now and I’ve not had my taxes and surcharges refunded. My avios came back almost immediately. How long should this normally take? Never had to cancel an award ticket before.

    • Lady London says:
      9 Sep9 September 12:55

      You are meant to get both Avios and cash back within one week. Call them and make sure both come back.

      • LewisB says:
        9 Sep9 September 14:45

        Managed to speak to somebody via Twitter who is blaming the delay of the refund on the strikes. Not sure if that’s even possible.

    • Anna says:
      9 Sep9 September 16:12

      I’ve still not had my EU 261 compo 3 months on, even though BA have acknowledged twice now that I am entitled to it. CEDR have been very good if you need to use them.

      • Lady London says:
        9 Sep9 September 16:38

        They are meant to pay out within two weeks it’s written in EU261 somewhere. I’d write to them reminding that due to their extended delay in payment then you now request them to ensure statutory interest accruing daily at the rate of 8% p.a. is added to the payment from [15th day after CEDR judgment] date until the date full payment reaches your account.

        If they don’t suffer any harm by delaying your payment, then they will keep on doing it won’t they? So insist on statutory interest being added to the amount so that they suffer something in their side for delaying.

      • Lyn says:
        9 Sep9 September 19:10

        Anna, they normally pay within a week once they have acknowledge that they owe compensation.

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