(BAY.L) British Airways PLC Buy/Sell

By Michael Holden

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - Union leaders called on Sunday for talks with British Airways bosses to end strike action by cabin crew staff that has led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disrupted travel plans for thousands of passengers.
The three-day action, which began on Saturday, has also proved a source of embarrassment for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as it involves the Unite union, the ruling Labour party's biggest single financial backer.
Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, said in a letter to his members he hoped new talks with BA management could prevent a second four-day strike over pay and jobs planned for later this month.
"Today, I will be appealing to British Airways at board level to take matters in hand and restart negotiations to reach an agreement which would allow the strike scheduled for next weekend to be averted and put your airline on the road to recovery," he said.
"We have said all along that negotiations, not litigation, intimidation nor confrontation is the way forward."
Unite and BA have disputed the impact of the strike, with the union saying it had received the support of 80 percent of its members while the airline's chief executive Willie Walsh said its plans were going better than expected.
BA, which had announced it would run a reduced schedule but still planned to fly more than 60 percent of passengers, said because of the number of crew reporting for work, it had been able to add extra flights.
It also said fears that unions in other countries which had voiced support for Unite would disrupt its services abroad had proved unfounded.

The dispute has grown increasingly bitter with Unite accusing BA's management of bullying and issuing misleading figures about the number of staff who had broken the strike.
While Woodley said the row would end in a negotiated settlement, his letter warned: "BA must understand that capitulation is not on the menu either".
The Observer newspaper reported on Sunday that government officials had been in touch with Woodley in a desperate attempt to find a solution to the strike which was damaging Brown with an election just weeks away.
The opposition Conservatives, ahead in opinion polls, have been turning up the pressure on Labour over its links to Unite, saying the government had failed to take action quickly enough because it did not want to alienate its financial backers.
"We deplore the strike, and the prime minister and the transport secretary have said that absolutely clearly," Foreign Secretary David Miliband told Sky News.
"The way to resolve these disputes is through negotiation, it is damaging for the company, it is damaging for the crews and it is damaging for the country."
The dispute arose because BA, which has 12,000 cabin crew, wants to save an annual 62.5 million pounds ($95 million) to help cope with a fall in demand, volatile fuel prices and increased competition from low-cost carriers.
A spokesman said there was no estimate yet as to how much the industrial action would cost the company.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence) Keywords: BA STRIKE/ (Reuters messaging: michael.holden@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 3213)

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By Michal Holden

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - British Airways and union leaders disputed the impact of a three-day cabin crew strike which began on Saturday and opponents sought to use the row to embarrass the Labour government weeks before an election.
The walkout over pay and jobs which began at midnight will disrupt travel for thousands of passengers after talks between the Unite union -- the Labour party's biggest single financial backer -- and management collapsed.
A further four-day strike is planned later this month.
BA plans to fly more than 60 percent of passengers this weekend -- some 49,000 people a day, and said all flights on a revised schedule had taken off as planned.
It added that crew had reported for work as normal at London's Gatwick and City airports, with 50 percent at Heathrow.
"Our operations at both Heathrow and Gatwick are continuing to go well. London City is operating as normal," it said in statement. "We aim to fly as many customers as we can this weekend in the biggest contingency operation we have ever organised."
However, Unite said the strike had been backed by 80 percent of cabin crew and said BA had only been able to fly a third of its scheduled flights.
The BBC said 1,100 out of 1,950 flights had been cancelled but the company declined to confirm the figure.
BA said it was now intending to fly an additional 17 flights than originally planned, although Unite warned the disruption would get worse over the next few days.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for both sides to resolve their differences without delay, as political opponents sought to capitalise from Unite's link with his Labour party.
The prospect of the first national rail strike for 16 years added to the government's problems after signal workers voted for industrial action on Friday, although peace talks were due to be held next week.
Labour has strong union ties that go back to its foundation in 1900. The political director of Unite, Britain's largest union, is Brown's former spokesman.

The opposition Conservatives, favourites to win an election expected on May 6, said they had issued an advert on Saturday highlighting Labour's links with Unite.
"Will the prime minister come out in support of those people who would cross the picket line? No, because the Unite union is bankrolling the Labour party," Conservative leader David Cameron said in a speech in London.
"So the vested interests triumph and the people, including those cabin crew staff who don't want to go on strike, suffer."
BA, which has 12,000 cabin crew, wants to save an annual 62.5 million pounds ($95 million) to help cope with a fall in demand, volatile fuel prices and increased competition from low-cost carriers.
The airline has retrained 1,000 staff to stand in as temporary cabin crew, found passengers flights on rival airlines and chartered aircraft and crew to fulfil other routes.
Last month, BA posted a surprise third-quarter operating profit of 25 million pounds, although it said it was in a worse position than last year. A spokesman said there was no estimate yet as to how much the industrial action would cost the company.
(Additional reporting by Tim Castle and Chris Helgren; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

((For a factbox with background to the strike, click on ; For a timeline of the dispute, click on ; For a factbox on BA Chief Executive click on ; For more on the forthcoming election, click on )) Keywords: BA STRIKE/ (tim.castle@reuters.com; +44 207 542 7947; Reuters Messaging: tim.castle.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By Tim Castle

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - British Airways said on Saturday emergency plans to handle a three-day cabin crew strike were working well as opponents sought to use the dispute to embarrass the Labour government weeks before an election.
The walkout over pay and jobs which began at midnight will disrupt travel for thousands of passengers after talks between the Unite union -- the Labour party's biggest single financial backer -- and management collapsed.
A further four-day strike is planned later this month.
BA, which plans to fly more than 60 percent of passengers this weekend -- some 49,000 people a day -- despite cancelling many of its scheduled flights, said its biggest ever contingency plan was going well.
"Our main aim this week has been to give customers as much information as early as possible so that they take up one of the options we have offered them," a spokesman said.
Unite said the strike had received strong support from crew.
"The severity of the disruption will get worse day by day as crews from overseas come back and then don't come back out," a spokesman said.
A Reuters witness at London Heathrow's Terminal 5, the airport's main hub for BA flights, said contingency plans appeared to be working as there were only a few people queuing for information about the strike.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for both sides to resolve their differences without delay, as political opponents sought to capitalise from Unite's link with his Labour party.
The prospect of the first national rail strike for 16 years added to the government's problems after signal workers voted for industrial action on Friday, although peace talks were due to be held next week.
Labour has strong union ties that go back to its foundation in 1900. The political director of Unite, Britain's largest union, is Brown's former spokesman.

The opposition Conservatives, favourites to win an election expected on May 6, said they had issued an advert on Saturday highlighting Labour's links with Unite.
"Will the prime minister come out in support of those people who would cross the picket line? No, because the Unite union is bankrolling the Labour party," Conservative leader David Cameron said in a speech in London.
"So the vested interests triumph and the people, including those cabin crew staff who don't want to go on strike, suffer."
BA, which has 12,000 cabin crew, wants to save an annual 62.5 million pounds ($95 million) to help cope with a fall in demand, volatile fuel prices and increased competition from low-cost carriers.
The airline has retrained 1,000 staff to stand in as temporary cabin crew, found passengers flights on rival airlines and chartered aircraft and crew to fulfil other routes.
Many crews, including those working on long-haul flights from London Gatwick airport, will not take part in the action as they have already agreed to proposed changes.
BA said it had got off to a "strong start" at Gatwick, flights at London City airport were operating normally, and a "significant number of crew" had reported for work at Heathrow.

(Additional reporting by Chris Helgren and Michael Holden; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

((For a factbox with background to the strike, click on ; For a timeline of the dispute, click on ; For a factbox on BA Chief Executive click on ; For more on the forthcoming election, click on )) Keywords: BA STRIKE/ (tim.castle@reuters.com; +44 207 542 7947; Reuters Messaging: tim.castle.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By Tim Castle

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - British Airways said it would fly more than 60 percent of passengers with flights booked for this weekend despite a three-day cabin crew strike that risks hurting the Labour government weeks before an election.
The walkout over pay and jobs which began at midnight will disrupt travel for thousands after talks between the Unite union and management collapsed. A further four-day strike is planned later this month.
The Unite union said support for the action had been strong and that the situation would be worse than BA had hoped.
"The severity of the disruption will get worse day by day as crews from overseas come back and then don't come back out," a spokesman said.
A Reuters witness at London Heathrow's Terminal 5, the airport's main hub for BA flights, said dozens of security guards and customer service staff were posted at entrances.
However, the airline's warnings and contingency plans appeared to be working as there were only a few people queuing for information about the strike.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for both sides to resolve their differences without delay, as political opponents sought to capitalise from Unite's position as his party's biggest single financial backer.
The prospect of the first national rail strike for 16 years added to the government's problems after signal workers voted for industrial action on Friday, although peace talks were due to be held next week.
Labour has strong union ties that go back to its foundation in 1900. The political director of Unite, Britain's largest union, is Brown's former spokesman.

The opposition Conservatives, favourites to win an election expected on May 6, called on Brown to sever financial links with the union during the dispute.
"Labour's dependence on funding from Unite is compromising their ability to stand up to the unions and stand up for the interests of passengers," Conservative transport spokeswoman Theresa Villiers said.
BA, which has 12,000 cabin crew, wants to save an annual 62.5 million pounds ($95 million) to help cope with a fall in demand, volatile fuel prices and increased competition from low-cost carriers.
BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh apologised for the disruption to passengers in a video on the carrier's website.
"We are going to fly as many of our customers as possible. We are going to fly you safely in secure conditions and we are going to fly you in comfort," Walsh said.
The airline has retrained 1,000 staff to stand in as temporary cabin crew, found passengers flights on rival airlines and chartered aircraft and crew to fulfil other routes.
Many crews, including those working on long haul flights from London Gatwick airport and all flights from the smaller London City airport, will not take part in the action as they have already agreed to proposed changes.
The airline normally transports 70,000 passengers daily, and hopes to fly 49,000 a day during the weekend strike.

(additional reporting by Chris Helgren and Michael Holden)

((For a factbox with background to the strike click on
For a timeline of the dispute click on
For a factbox on BA Chief Executive click on
For more on the forthcoming election, click on )) Keywords: BA STRIKE/

(tim.castle@reuters.com; +44 207 542 7947; Reuters Messaging: tim.castle.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.