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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.

  • Jon says:
    23 Aug23 August 23:25

    Flying out to San Francisco on the 11th and back on the 25th, 2-4-1 voucher in club world… no message from BA but what does everyone think the chances of disruption are?
    I really need to be in San Francisco by the 12th, at the latest, so need to know whether it’s worth considering planning any contingency.
    Thanks, appreciate any advice!!

  • Anna says:
    23 Aug23 August 23:28

    I would recommend that people use their initiative and not rely solely on BA to resolve issues at what may well be a completely chaotic time. When our MAN – LHR connecting flight was cancelled 3 hours before its scheduled departure we got a text message just telling us to call BA for further info. Fortunately we had stayed overnight at MAN so went straight to the ticketing desk in time for BA to arrange a (200 mile) taxi ride for us to LHR. However, if we had still been at home when we got the notification and tried sorting out by phone who knows how long it would have taken to even get through to someone, let alone make alternative arrangements?!

  • Alan says:
    23 Aug23 August 23:35

    Hmm will need to look at this in detail tomorrow. Out in South Africa but due to fly back on the 9th CPT-JNB (Comair, revenue) then JNB-LHR-EDI (BA Lloyds voucher). Had upper deck seat selected but I see seat selection has now disappeared although flight not noted as being cancelled.

    • Alison says:
      24 Aug24 August 06:34

      I had same routing, JNB-LHR-EDI booked in F (avios 2-4-1 redemption) for 10th September. Flight was not showing as cancelled when I called YOUFIRST yesterday at about 1915 but they were able to reroute me on Qatar. No F on this flight so booked in J (agent asked his supervisor if Emirates F was an option but this was refused) Just happy to be getting back.
      Before I phoned, I had a list of all possible alternatives on all airlines flying from JNB to EDI and you might want to have this at hand when you call.

  • Calz says:
    23 Aug23 August 23:46

    My flights been cancelled on 10th EDI-LHR. Set up google flight search earlier in day. Too much faff dealing with BA and trying to still fly with them in this case (would have meant going to LCY as only option for me. Cancelled ticket for full refund and now on Flybe to LHR at a similar time and thankfully they hadn’t pushed thier prices up so i’m no worse off. In fact i’m quids in by £8 and 2,500 avios. haha

  • Alistair Coffin says:
    24 Aug24 August 00:14

    I’ve just had an email (at 23:53) to say my flight on the evening of the 11th Sep (not a strike day) to Dubai has been cancelled due to industrial action.

    It’ll be fun queuing on the phone in the morning!

    • JP says:
      24 Aug24 August 00:27

      I’ve had the same email for a flight on 8th Sep (non strike day) bit going into the app it only states that the flight is subject to disruption…. Not that it is cancelled. Not sure if this is a ploy by BA to scare people around the strike dates to rebook and free up space, or to cover themselves re EU261 if we turn up on the day of “possible disruption” and the flight ends up being cancelled last minute due to the operational redeployment of aircraft?

      • Shoestring says:
        24 Aug24 August 00:49

        you can’t be half pregnant

        your flight is not cancelled until you get the cancellation warning & that’s when the 14 days needs to be counted

        • Shoestring says:
          24 Aug24 August 01:01

          on re-reading i see you got the cancellation warning already! ignore the app

      • Char says:
        24 Aug24 August 03:46

        I also have the same confusing email! Flying on 8 Sep (non strike day) back to London. Had an email saying flight cancelled, but in my account it’s just giving the ‘subject to delay’ message – and doesn’t pop up the normal cancelled flight rebooking/refund options. And they are still selling this ‘cancelled’ flight on their website, albeit at an inflated refundable price only. Most odd. Maybe the website hasn’t caught up yet…? I guess I’ll find out when the phones open at 7am…

        • Anne says:
          24 Aug24 August 04:16

          I’m seeing exactly the same thing for my Dubai flight on the 11th. Cancellation email at 23.48 but MMB still only showing the possible disruption message, no rebook/cancellation options and flights still on sale!

    • Miles. On Point says:
      24 Aug24 August 06:35

      Contact the BA call centre in Hong Kong using Skype. Worked a treat for when the “beast from the east” cancelled my Dublin flight from LHR as I was able to get through quickly and rebook to a flight the next morning from LCY.

  • Ziad says:
    24 Aug24 August 00:50

    Just had an email to say my flight on 8th is cancelled too…

  • Shoestring says:
    24 Aug24 August 01:05

    on strikes – so my wife & kids arrived ok

    they had 3 cheap Ryanair flights booked for tomorrow as back up – here’s the cunning plan

    with any luck, there was a bit of disruption to Ryanair with the 2 day strike, though newspapers said most flights ran as normal

    I’m going to check them in as late as possible, with any luck it’s overbooked

  • Nick Hopkinson says:
    24 Aug24 August 01:31

    I have a question, I’d be very grateful if someone could shed some light on it for me. I’ve been following the news of the strikes as I have 2 tickets in First from Aberdeen to LHR to Miami on 11th September (Avios redemption + companion voucher). I was initially relieved to see that 11th was not a planned strike day but this evening one of us has received emails from BA saying both of her flights (again, on 11th) have been cancelled. Why would this be if the strikes are not supposed to be on 11th, and why has only one of us had the cancellation notification?

    Thanks, in anticipation!

    • Shoestring says:
      24 Aug24 August 01:36

      people are getting cancelled on 8th and 11th as well, due mainly to repositioning aircraft etc

      the other one may have switched off notifications – check MMB

      • Nick Hopkinson says:
        24 Aug24 August 02:12

        Thanks for your advice. I realised I could call You First even in the middle of the night so I’ve just been on to them. Weird thing is he was telling me the flight definitely is not cancelled, despite me telling him we’d had written confirmation. He was saying that it’s a possibility due, as you say, to aircraft being in the wrong places but by no means a certainty, very strange to have such conflicting info. Anyway, we’ve bumped our trip back 2 days with his assistance so looks like we’re sorted, except for a few logistical issues with things we’ve booked over there, but could have been worse. Hope everyone else on here gets on ok.

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

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