Summer Is In the Air...or Grounded at Heathrow

 A British Airways 747 at Toronto's Pearson Airport.

Photo © Aaron Saunders

For many, summer means long evenings, warm weather, and cool drinks.  If you're Unite, the union representing British Airways cabin crew, it means another summer of strikes, the first of which is due to kick off next week.  This year, however, Unite may have bitten off more than it can chew in its bid to eke better pay and working conditions out of BA.

Europe-bound travelers have had to put up with a lot so far this year, mainly thanks to the eruption of a volcano in Iceland that, while more subdued in recent weeks, still continues to periodically cause chaos at many European airports.  It was an event that cost the airlines millions of dollars, and alienated as many passengers.  Horror stories were reprinted verbatim in papers and blogs around the world as stranded travelers fought airlines, insurance companies, and tour providers in a desperate bid to keep their vacations intact, or merely get home.

The BA strike is nothing new - Unite threatens to pull the plug on BA seemingly each summer.  What has changed, though, is the willingness of passengers to go along with these shenanigans.  The incident with the Icelandic volcano was the closest the airline industry has come to total collapse - not since World War II has the European airspace closed for so long.  So now, with passengers still on pins and needles and their employer in a precarious position, Unite has decided it's time to stick it to their employer again.

In threatening to pull the plug on many BA flights from London Heathrow for 20 days in May and June, many passengers who have to book travel to Europe will avoid BA at all costs.  Many other affected passengers - no doubt this group includes some poor fliers displaced last month by the eruption - stand to be affected again.  How many of those passengers do you suppose will return to BA the next time they're due to fly into Heathrow?

Unite has some genuine grievances with BA.  But by launching a strike at this time, they further cripple their employer and alienate another piece of their customer base.  No amount of advertising in the world could give Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic this kind of edge. 

Cruisers due to fly on BA to Europe have some options if your flight is indeed canceled.  BA will work with you to try to place you on an alternate flight, either with the airline itself or with a codeshare partner.  Because of the time-sensitive nature of cruises, if you are able to re-arrange your travel dates to arrive or depart a few days before your cruise, it will probably work to your advantage to do so.

Finally, like most passengers have regrettably discovered this year, check your insurance for your flights and cruise and see exactly what options are open to you.  As with the volcanic eruption, if your cruise is still on, but you are unable to reach the port of embarkation due to flight issues, many policies will leave  you high and dry.

Hopefully Unite and BA will be able to come to an agreement and minimize any disruption to passengers - those people whom this business supposedly revolves around, but who are usually forgotten.