British Airways pilots began a 48-hour strike on Monday, grounding nearly all its flights and disrupting thousands the plans of travelers in unprecedented industrial action over a pay dispute.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) last month gave the airline notice of three days of industrial action in September, in the first ever strike by BA pilots.
PILOTS DEMAND PROMISED RISES IN SALARIES
“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,” BA said in a statement.“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 percent of our flights.”
Following strikes on Monday and Tuesday, another day of industrial action is scheduled for Sept. 27.
BALPA has said British Airways (BA) should share more of its profits with its pilots. BA has said the strike action is unjustifiable as its pay offer was fair.
Thousands of customers have had to seek alternative travel arrangements, and the airline has come in for criticism over how it handled communications with passengers before the strikes.