British Airways pilot strike sees more flights canceled
September 10, 2019
BA pilots are on the second day of a 48-hour global strike over a nine-month pay dispute. The labor action has grounded most of the British carrier's 850 daily flights and is costing the airline €44.5 million per day.
Image: Reuters/H. McKay
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British Airways (BA) pilots on Tuesday refused to end their unprecedented 48-hour walkout early.
The strike over a long-standing pay dispute has grounded most of the 850 daily scheduled flights of the British carrier and disrupted the plans of about 195,000 travelers. A third day of industrial action is planned for September 27.
The airline on Tuesday said that without information about which pilots would strike, "We had no way of predicting how many would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly, so we had no option but to cancel nearly 100 percent our flights."
"After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this," BA said.
The British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) has said the airline should share its profits with pilots, who have had to accept significant pay cuts during difficult times. Now that the airline is profitable, it should raise the salaries of pilots accordingly, the union said.
"This strike will have cost the company considerably more than the investment needed to settle this dispute," BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said in a statement on Sunday. "It is time to get back to the negotiating table and put together a serious offer that will end this dispute."
British Airways (BA) holds that its pay offer was fair and that the industrial action is unjustifiable.
A spokesperson for British Airways said the airline remains "ready and willing to return to talks with BALPA."
The large, often stylized logos on airplane tails allow you to immediately recognize the airline when you spot a plane. Many use birds in their designs, but all companies want to let you know where they are based.
Image: S. Barbour/Getty Images
Qantas
The plane tails of Australia's national airline Qantas are embellished with a stylized kangaroo, hence the nickname "the Flying Kangaroo!" Even from a far distance, it's easy to tell which continent the plane comes from. After all, kangaroos only exist in Australia. This animal has become a sort of national logo, appearing not only on planes but also on Australia's coat of arms and currency.
Image: S. Barbour/Getty Images
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
In contrast to its Australian counterpart, the logo of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is more factual. The abstract symbol of a crown in combination with the three letters KLM leaves no doubt as to which country this plane comes from. And that's what logos are all about.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/R. de Waal
Gambia Bird
The tiny West African state is a paradise for birds and their friends. More than 500 different kinds of birds live in the Gambia. Tourists don't even need to take birdwatching trips because many birds can be spotted in hotel gardens — they're just everywhere! Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Gambian national airline went for a bird as its logo when it was founded in 2012. Service ceased in 2014.
Image: flickr/Transport Pixels
Alaska Airlines
The Seattle-based airline has proved its creativity on several occasions during its 90-year-long history. The company was among the first airlines to sell tickets online and to offer online and automatic check-ins. Like its name, the logo of the airline refers to Alaska and its indigenous inhabitants, the Inuit.
Image: Reuters
Iran Air
A trade embargo and political tensions between 1980 and 2016 made it hard for Iran's state airline with headquarters at Tehran's Mehrabad airport to modernize its planes. But maybe the "homa," the mythological bird used in the logo, came to the rescue of the airline. According to Persian mythology, "homa" is believed to bring luck and joy while living its life entirely in the sky.
Image: Konstantin von Wedelstaedt
Air Tanzania
Over the years Tanzania's national airline has also had to face numerous challenges. Sometimes its fleet was in the air, sometimes not, and the airline's owners also frequently changed. It's certainly not the fault of the giraffe logo. The world's tallest animal looks so friendly and inviting on the plane;what passenger could say no to stepping onboard for a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro?
Image: flickr/stevesaviation
Takeoff into the future
A crane has served as the logo of Germany's largest airline since 1918. Some types of cranes cover enormous distances when they migrate, but others are considered pests due to their enormous appetites. Lufhansa is now flying into the future with a new logo design. The symbol will be the same, but the colors will change. Goodbye yellow and gray, hello simple white and blue!
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Lufthansa
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Thousands left stranded
British Airways dismissed a new BALPA offer last Thursday as an "11th-hour inflated proposal" that was not made in good faith. BALPA stated the union would have stopped this week's strikes if the airline had taken the offer seriously.
The walkout has forced thousands of customers to find alternative travel arrangements, and the airline has come under fire for its communication with passengers about the strikes.
The effects of the walkout will likely be felt for days. British newspaper The Guardian has estimated that some 145,000 passengers will be affected by the strike.
According to BALPA, the strike will cost the airline €44.5 million ($49 million) per day.
