British Airways Services Attempting to Return to Normal

British Airways departures are attempting to return back to normal this week following a three day strike by cabin crew. The Unite union called workers out on strike on March 20^th with a further four day strike expected to start on March 27^th.

So far no further talks have been scheduled by either side. Thus, there is very little optimism for this next strike to be called off. However, Unite has challenged British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh to return to the negotiation table. British Airways has said many times that they are always available for talks.

Tony Woodley, the Unite joint general secretary, said that British Airways needs to wake up and understand that a dispute like this can only be resolved through negotiations. These cabin crew members have sent the company the most powerful message that they can over the last three days. These people say that they will no longer be bullied into accepting industrial crap.

Unite has also pointed out that the have offered their own £55 million cost cutting package to British Airways. This was a package that the airline rejected. Despite all of this, British Airways has continue to defend its position over the weekend. They argue that more flights took off than what were planned.

Over the first two days of the planned strike, the airline operated 273 planes, or about 78 percent, of its long haul flights. The airline was also able to operate 442 of its short haul flights, which is the same as about 50 percent. Overall, this is a much better outlook than what British Airways had originally planned, which could be bad news for the cabin crew.