British Airways assures no industrial action over Christmas Holidays

British Airways has been attempting to quickly reassure their passengers that Christmas holiday flights will remain unaffected after Unite, a UK cabin crew union, has indicated more than 14,000 BA members as potentially subject to forms of industrial action.

The industrial action comes in the wake of the postal workers strike scheduled to take place this week. However, the news could hit the airlines hard as the strikes would possibly take place during the busy holiday season.

A spokesperson for British Airways, however, released a statement saying the airline was not anticipating a strike during the holiday breaks and that all flight activity should remain unaffected during that time period, The union’s dispute with BA revolves around the airline’s cost-cutting scheme which would freeze pay for almost two years for cabin crew members, as well as eliminate up to one in eight positions for cabin crew staff.

BA lost £401 million in revenue last year, and the company has said that their discussion period with Unite had been lengthy and come to no resolve. The airline insisted, however, that the policy will be enacted next month regardless of the union’s cooperation.

BA is proposing additional cost effective measure as well to compensate for last year’s profit hemorrhage. Measures will include eliminating food services on short-haul flights, eliminating 22 airplanes from their fleet by winter 2010, and the company has already axed 2,500 staff positions this year alone.

The company has blamed the recession and indicates other airlines taking similar measures during this harsh economic climate. Furthermore, BA is facing the failure and increasing deficits for two of the company’s pension schemes, which will also greatly affect their financial situation.