BA Cabin Crew To Strike Over Xmas

British Airways Cabin Crew have announced an intention to strike over the 12 days of Christmas due to plans to cut 1,200 jobs when they complete the merger with Spanish national airline Iberia.

Unite, the Airline’s Union, stated that approx 95% of flight attendants had confirmed their decision not to work over the Christmas period. They have stated that they will stop work on December 22 and continue the strike until January 2, a move that will affect thousands of passengers and could lead to literally hundreds of flights being cancelled at a time of year when air traffic is at its most intense.

Or at least that is unless Union leaders and senior management can arrive at an agreement before December 22. Union members have expressed that they are unwilling to return to work if a decision is reached beyond this period.

"We are extremely sad," stated the association, "to have had to have reached the point where we have to resort to industrial measures in order for our voices to be heard, but we have had no choice."

BA responded by calling the strike 'completely unjustified' and criticised the decision of the Union to organise the picket among its members.

Official at BA went on to call it a 'total lack of concern for our customers, our business and other employees'.

BA's plans to cut jobs are joined by a decision to reduce the number of crew on long-haul flights and to freeze salaries for two years. This has come as a result of the planned merger with Iberia, which will make the resulting company one of the largest airlines in the world.