IAG issues profit warning after British Airways strikes
British Airways owner IAG today slashed its 2019 profit guidance after recent strikes forced it to cancel more than 2,000 flights.
International Airlines Group warned that adjusted operating profit will fall €215m (£190m) below last year’s €3.49bn.
Read more: Ryanair threatens to remove pilot perks over strikes, says union
It estimated that Balpa’s strike action cost the airline €137m (£121m), while other disruption, such as threatened strikes by Heathrow Airport staff, cost BA €33m.
IAG warned that any future strikes will hit its full-year operating profit.
Pilots held strikes on 9 and 10 September, leading to a total of 2,325 flights being cancelled.
IAG said pilots union Balpa and British Airways have not held any further talks since the strikes.
The sides are still locked in dispute despite pilots cancelling a strike set to take place tomorrow.
BA has offered pilots an 11.5 per cent pay rise over three years that has been accepted by other unions representing BA staff.
“Clearly any further industrial action will additionally impact IAG’s full year 2019 operating profit,” the airline owner said today.
Read more: Why Cruz control has not spelled smooth sailing for British Airways
Balpa said it cancelled its 27 September strike action in the hope that BA would “change its approach and negotiate seriously”.
But the union warned future strike action remains on the table if the two sides cannot agree a way forward.
The pilots’ union hit back at IAG, refusing to accept the blame for the profit drop and saying BA could have avoided the costly strike for the sum of just £5m.
“The airline’s tactic to lay the blame for a fall in profits at the door of the pilots, and without any mention of the impact their IT issue or GDPR fine, is completely disingenuous,” Balpa said.
Read more: British Airways IT outage causes flight delay chaos at Heathrow and Gatwick
The union said its pilots have asked Balpa to consider more strike dates, having had “no response from the airline” over negotiations.
Balpa general secretary, Brian Strutton, added: “This is proof that BA’s intransigence towards its pilots is economic madness. Their total disengagement is evidence of a senior management team that has lost the plot and doesn’t know how to resolve their dispute with their pilots.”
Main image credit: Getty