BA to fly 60% of its flights during planned strike

Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite: "Put the offer back on the table and we'll look sensibly at suspending the strikes" British Airways has announced contingency plans that will allow it to fly 60% of its customers during the first planned strike by cabin crew. The airline said it aimed to fly about 45,000 passengers a day during the first three-day strike, due to begin on 20 March. Thousands more affected passengers will be offered alternative BA flights or seats on other airlines. Plans for the second strike period from 27 March have not been finalised. A total of 1,100 flights out of the 1,950 scheduled to operate during the first three strike dates will be cancelled. But all long-haul flights and more than half of short-haul flights from Gatwick are expected to operate as normal. Flights to go ahead At Heathrow, more than 60% of long-haul flights will run, though only 30% of short-haul flights are expected to operate with the help of aircraft leased from eight rival airlines. Passengers on cancelled BA flights will be able to rebook on other airlines free of charge, BA said. Flights in and out of London City airport are unaffected by the strike action. BA's chief executive Willie Walsh apologised to customers for the disruption, calling the planned strikes a "cynical attack" by Unite, the union representing cabin crew. "We will continue to try to prevent this strike taking place, but we have reached a point when we must now offer some clarity to our customers who have waited with great patience since Friday when the strike dates were first announced," he said. But he added that the disruption would be less than originally feared, due to the number of cabin crew who had "called in to offer their services over the weekend". Plans for the second strike - due to run between 27 March and 30 March - are still being worked on. Unite called the strikes last week following the breakdown of talks between the union and BA over planned cost-cutting measures. A new deal proposed by BA to end the dispute was to be put to Unite cabin crew members, but was withdrawn following the announcement of strike dates. Unite's joint general secretary Tony Woodley said the move had revealed BA's true motives. "At the moment they don't want to consult, they want war," he told the BBC. Earlier the strike action drew the condemnation of both the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Brown called the strike action "unjustified and deplorable". "It's not in the company's interests, it's not in the workers' interests and its certainly not in the national interest," he said. Meanwhile Lord Adonis called on Unite to lift the threat of strikes and "get back to the negotiating table". BA is under pressure to drastically cut its costs as it continues to make huge losses. It announced losses of £50m for the last three months of 2009, and is expected to announce the biggest annual loss in its history later this year. BBC business editor Robert Peston said that although any strike action would be a significant cost for BA, these were nothing compared to the greater challenges faced by the airline. "It's got an enormous multi-billion hole in its pension fund, and it is just coming through the worst recession that the airline has experienced," our correspondent said.