Share in British Airways was up by more than 5% on Tuesday despite the two day pilot’s strike costing BA £40m per day.
On Monday shares in BA’s parent company IAG were down by 1.53% to 423.50p at closing. So far no more talks have been announced with British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) and the airline and another strike is set to take place on 27 September for 24-hours.
British Airways said in a statement, “We understand the frustration and disruption Balpa’s strike action has caused our customers. After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this.
“We remain ready and willing to return to talks with Balpa. Unfortunately, with no detail from Balpa on 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% of our flights.”
British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz said, “I’m really sorry for the position the cynical actions of the pilots’ union has put us in. It’s by all accounts an own goal for the union.
“It’s going to punish customers, it’s going to punish our brand, it’s going to punish the rest of our colleagues, over 90% (of BA employees) have already accepted the 11.5% deal.”
Leave a Comment