BA strike nightmare for thousands of passengers

Are you entitled to BA flight cancellation compensation?

30th March 2010

The British Airways cabin crew strikes started to take their toll on passengers as hundreds of flights were cancelled yesterday.

A massive 263 flights from London Heathrow were cancelled out of a total of 642 scheduled services due to the BA strike, affecting thousands of holidaymakers and travellers as the Easter holidays begin.

One passenger, John Cawley, 54, from Liverpool, vowed he would never fly with BA again.

He, his wife and two sons were due to fly to Newark in the US before going on a cruise around the Caribbean but their internal flight between Manchester and Heathrow was cancelled.

Today is due to be the last day of the strike planned by BA cabin crew, but the Unite union , which represents over nearly all of BA's cabin crew, is expected to announce another wave of strikes after Easter.

Despite the airline losing over £5m a day during the strike, BA chief executive is adamant the walkout failed.

In an open letter to Unite joint General Secretary Tony Woodley, Walsh said the airline had flown more than 75% of passengers and that 60% of cabin crew had turned up for work.

He claimed the airline carried 118,575 passengers in total over last weekend compared to 86,262 the previous weekend during the first wave of strikes.

If you have been affected by the BA strikes and want to know if you are entitled to redress please visit our free guide to claiming flight delay and cancellation compensation.