25th Jan 2007 10:31
British Airways PLC25 January 2007 Flying schedule announced for T&G strike dates British Airways will not operate any passenger flights out of London Heathrowfrom 0001 GMT on Tuesday January 30 until 2359 GMT on Wednesday January 31 dueto a planned strike by the cabin crew branch of the Transport & General WorkersUnion. All domestic and European flights to and from London Gatwick will alsobe cancelled. The airline remains committed to pursuit of a negotiated settlement before nextTuesday but wants customers to have early warning of its flying schedule toallow sufficient time for alternative travel arrangements to be made. Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive, said: "We are deeply sorry thatour customers are the innocent victims of this unnecessary and unjustifiedstrike by the T&G. "More than 15,000 customers a day have contacted us since the union announced aseries of 72-hour strikes, extremely concerned about their winter holidays andbusiness trips. Announcing our contingency plans means we can end uncertaintyfor customers caught up in the first round of strikes and help them make otherplans. "If we postponed the cancellation of flights until the eve of a strike,customers would have virtually no time to make alternative arrangements. "We remain absolutely determined to search for a negotiated settlement and ourdoor remains open to the T&G, day or night. We regret that the T&G has notsupported our initiative to seek the assistance of the Acas conciliationservice. "It is not too late for the T&G to call off this dispute and we will do all wecan to reinstate some of the cancelled flights. The airline will allow any customer due to travel on a British Airways flightcancelled by the strike to claim a full refund, rebook their flight for a laterdate or be rebooked by British Airways with another airline. Customers wishing to rebook their flights can contact the airline on 0800 727800 which is a free telephone line. Customers are urged to check the airline's website (www.ba.com) regularly anduse the 'Manage My Booking' link to obtain information about their individualreservation. Customers who were due to travel on any cancelled services should not come tothe airport. British Airways' flight programme is complex, involving the combination ofrosters for 15,000 cabin crew, 3,000 pilots and 234 aircraft operating up to 750services in and out of Heathrow and Gatwick every day. More than 8,000 crew have to be in the right place at the right time, either onaircraft, at airports or in crew hotels in more than 140 cities in 75 countries,every day. Because of crew or aircraft being out of position, there will be furthercancellations on either side of the official strike dates. Customers are advisedto check ba.com to see if their flight is still operating before departing forthe airport. If their flight has been cancelled they should not come to theairport but contact British Airways or their travel agent. British Airways has opened an extra call centre at its Heathrow headquartersstaffed by more than100 volunteers from across the airline to help with customerinquiries. Many longhaul aircraft will depart from Heathrow during Tuesday and Wednesday.They will not have customers onboard because of the lack of cabin crew due tothe strike. The aircraft will fly to destinations overseas to collect a crewdown route, enabling a significant number of longhaul inbound flights toHeathrow to operate normally to bring customers home. It is planned that up to six of the nine daily longhaul departures from Gatwickwill also operate normally. Customers should use the Manage My Booking facility on www.ba.com. If customerswish to claim a refund then they should log onto www.ba.com and follow theinstructions or apply in writing. Key points of British Airways' schedule for customers: • No longhaul or shorthaul commercial flights FROM London Heathrow during the strike period. • Some longhaul services INTO London Heathrow will operate during the strike period. • No shorthaul services INTO London Heathrow will operate during the strike period. • No shorthaul services FROM or INTO London Gatwick will operate during the strike period • Up to six of the normal nine daily longhaul services FROM and INTO London Gatwick will operate each day during the strike period. • The Manchester to New York JFK daily service will continue to operate as normal. • Flights operated by subsidiary BA Connect will operate as normal • Flights operated by British Airways franchise partners to and from UK (GB Airways, BMED, Loganair and Sun Air) will operate as normal. • Flights operated by other carriers (including Oneworld Alliance partners) which have a BA codeshare flight number will operate as normal. • All dedicated freighter services continue to operate as normal. ends January 25, 2007 013/RG/07 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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