British Airways Still Sees Passenger Numbers Dropping Due to Strike

Almost 400,000 people have been abandoned by British Airways due to cabin crew strikes. This has forced the airline to cancel hundreds of its flights. The flag carrier said that its passenger numbers have fallen by 14.2 percent to 2.3 million last month. This news came following a wave of industrial action caused by a failure for the airline and union to reach an agreement.

British Airways’ revenue per passenger numbers last month also fell by 11.5 percent as a result of the strike. This fall was the steepest in economy class, which was down some 12.5 percent. Premium cabins were only down about 6.5 percent.

During all this time, rival airlines like easyJet have been experiencing a rush on bookings as passengers from British Airways look for alternative travel routes. Despite the impact of the ash cloud, easyJet flew some 7.9 percent more people in May than they did a year ago. The average load factor also increase to 85.8 percent compared to 83.5 percent in May of last year.

Ryanair, another low budget carrier, also said that its passenger numbers have increase by 12.3 percent to 6.19 million last month. It’s load factor was unchanged at 81 percent.

The last walkout by British Airways cabin crew ended just before the weekend. However, the third and final strike of the series started on Saturday. Talks between British Airways management and the Unite union have once again stalled over the week. They stalled on a failure to agree on reinstating travel perks. The union is now threatening to hold a fresh ballot to vote for more strike action over the summer holiday if an agreement is not reached.