Thaindian News

London, May 24 (DPA) The cabin crew of British Airways (BA) began a five-day strike Monday, after negotiations between the trade union and the company broke down.
According to the website Flight Stats, 56 flights were cancelled at Heathrow Monday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., and 117 had taken off as planned or were scheduled to take place.

BA had said all flights from London’s Gatwick and City airports would take off as planned, and that 60 percent of the airline’s long-haul flights and 50 percent of the short-haul flights from Heathrow would continue to operate.

Flights from other airports were not expected to be affected.

Last-minute negotiations broke down Sunday, after the company rejected an offer by the Unite union representatives to call off the strike if staff travel perks were restored.

The dispute continued Monday, with Unite’s joint leader, Tony Woodley accusing BA’s chief executive Willie Walsh of wanting “regime change” in the union’s cabin crew branch.

Woodley told BBC Radio 4 that BA had achieved its original aim of cutting 1,700 cabin crew jobs and that the dispute had now broadened.

“This is not just about cost downs, it’s about regime change. It is personal because of dislike and trust of the branch.”

At a picket line near Heathrow’s perimeter fence, a 42-year-old cabin crew member told the Press Association that staff wanted “to keep BA as a premium airline. We’re Middle England - we’re Marks and Spencer, we’re Waitrose. We don’t want this to be a race to the bottom.”

BA said it was concentrating on carrying its passengers throughout the strike period, accusing Unite of negotiating through the media and and blaming the union for the breakdown of Sunday’s talks.

“We have already offered to reinstate travel concessions to cabin crew once all elements of our offer have been implemented,” BA said.

The company recently introduced cost-cutting measures, including the abolition of crew members’ right to buy tickets at heavily discounted rates.

The company’s 12,000 cabin crew have been protesting for months against planned spending cuts and working conditions. Two strikes in March may have cost the airline tens of millions of pounds, analysts say. Further five-day walkouts are planned for May 30 and June 5.

The Court of Appeal last week overturned an earlier ruling that had blocked a planned strike.

The British carrier posted record losses of 425 million pounds ($616 million) in the year ending March 31.