Cheap travel whether it is cheap airfare or discount hotel rooms loses its luster when faced by an airline strike.
British Airways (BA) was granted an emergency court order today which prevents its cabin crews from commencing a previously announced 12 day strike starting on December 22nd. The British High Court agreed with British Airways claim that the vote of some 13,000 flight attendants was illegal because some of the unions members who voted are no longer employees of the airline.
Had this strike gone forward, upwards of one million British Airways fliers could have been impacted. BA flies an average of 650 flights per day, carrying 90,000 travelers.
The union and its members were willing to strike because of changes to staffing pay, which included a pay freeze in 2010, switching 3,000 workers to part time status and a cut in cabin crew sizes. British Airways claims it must make these moves due to severe financial pressures. The union claims that these changes are in breach of their contract.
The union will not be able to hold another vote of its members until after Christmas, meaning a new strike is unlikely prior to February at the earliest.