BA to face fresh walk out threats
BRITISH Airways (BA) could face more disruptions to its services as cabin crew finish voting today on whether or not to reject a peace offering from the airline and launch another strike action.
Unite, the union representing the crew, had earlier urged staff not to accept the deal proposed by BA on the grounds that it does not reinstate the travel bonuses earlier removed by the airline affecting the striking crew.
The row between BA and Unite was further ignited yesterday after news broke that the airline had let go of union leader Duncan Holley.
The possible strike comes as bad news for BA after the airline saw passenger numbers fall by almost a quarter last month after the six-day flight ban imposed by aviation authorities.
The commercial carrier said 1.2m passengers flew during April, marking a 24.5 per cent drop on the same period last year.
Passenger revenue losses during that period were between £15m-£20m for the airline.
Meanwhile, budget airline Ryanair said that it flew 6.2m passengers last month, marking a 17 per cent rise on the previous year when it flew 5.3m people.
Ryanair said that it did not take into account the 1.2m passengers stranded by the volcano when calculating their monthly traffic figures.