Unite strike causes BA traffic to drop
STRIKE action by Unite, the union representing British Airways (BA) cabin crew, saw passenger traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometers reduced by 11.1 per cent last month.
As a result of the nine-day strike period in June, BA on average filled only 77.5 per cent of its planes, while passenger capacity fell 8.6 per cent from a year earlier, with five percentage points of the decline due to industrial action. BA carried 12.5 per cent fewer passengers last month when it flew 2.5m people compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, hopes that a third strike could be avoided remain high after BA said that its new offer to Unite, which includes a proposal to increase staffing levels and guaranteed pay rises in basic salary for two years from February 2011, is still with the union.
The airline said that underlying market conditions continue to improve, after holiday bookings were up 56 per cent on this time last year. In June BA launched a private jet service for customers flying within the US and announced that it will start flying to Cancun from Gatwick Airport starting in November.
Ryanair, however, trumped BA in the number of passengers it flew throughout the month of June after it carried 6.71m customers.
Ryanair, which filled 84 per cent of its planes, said the number represented a 15 per cent rise on the previous year. It has already flown 69.2m passengers during the last 12 months, but that includes the 1.45m passengers booked to travel on flights cancelled due to the recent volcano in Iceland.