British Airways scraps 800 more summer flights

LONDON/SYDNEY • British Airways (BA) will pull an estimated 800 more flights from its summer schedule as the carrier looks to reduce last-minute cancellations amid continuing staffing shortages and long queues at airports.

The cuts - combined with the roughly 8,000 dropped flights announced in May - mean the unit of IAG has now reduced its timetable by 11 per cent through October.

The move follows the United Kingdom's decision to waive rules requiring airlines to use take-off and landing slots or lose them the next season.

"As the entire aviation industry continues to face the most challenging period in its history, regrettably it has become necessary to make some further reductions," a BA spokesman said on Tuesday via e-mail.

"We're in touch with customers to apologise and offer to rebook them or issue a full refund."

Airports and airlines across Europe are slashing capacity and cancelling flights after being caught flat-footed by a surge in demand following two years of virtually no travel.

The Department for Transport asked airlines pulling flights ahead of its waiver deadline to rebook passengers affected by the scrapped flights and inform them of their refund and cancellation rights. "We hope airlines will continue to make use of this measure to give passengers some much needed certainty around their summer plans," a spokesman said via e-mail.

Meanwhile, Qantas Airways' unionised licensed aircraft engineers are voting on work stoppages of up to 12 hours and overtime bans from next month after failing to reach a pay agreement with the airline, the union's head said yesterday.

The move, which affects around 1,000 engineers across Qantas and subsidiaries Jetstar and Network Aviation, comes as the airline is trying to minimise disruption to customers from worker shortages at airports that have led to increased flight delays and cancellations.

"With the industry still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, the last thing it needs is the threat of industrial action," a Qantas spokesman said. "Should the union proceed with industrial action, we have contingency plans to minimise any disruptions."

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) last week was granted approval by the Fair Work Commission to hold the ballot on industrial action, as first reported by The Australian Financial Review.

The first industrial action could be in the third week of August.

Qantas has offered its 19,000 workers covered by union contracts a US$3,396.50 bonus when they reach new pay agreements, provided they agree to wage increases of 2 per cent annually following a two-year wage freeze during the pandemic.

"Our members at Qantas have not received a wage increase in four years," ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas said.

"The airline wage freeze offer is insulting to engineers who have borne the brunt of Covid stand-downs and redundancies."

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS