British Airways cancels flights, begins first global pilots’ strike

Second largest airline in the United Kingdom, British Airways, has cancelled almost all of their UK flights, as pilots begin a strike over salary increase.
The strike , which is their first global pilots’ strike,  began today, September 9, 2019 and passengers have been told not to turn up at airports.
 As a result, over 1,500 flights have been cancelled costing the airline £80m loss as union bosses have warned that they could continue the strike until the end of the year.
BA and The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) are clashing after the union rejected a proposed 11.5 per cent pay rise for its pilots, taking their pay package to around £200,000 a year.
“We make no apology for doing everything we can to protect our customers from further disruption,” a BA spokesperson told the Financial Times on Friday.  
 BALPA says that BA “has resorted to breaking agreements and threatening pilots who will strike, which is bound to make matters worse” after they emailed their 4,300 pilots warning that strike action would be a “serious breach” of their contract.
British Airways also threatened to withdraw a travel perk where staff can book tickets for ten per cent of the full fare plus taxes for three years if they chose tou strike.
Flights to New York, Delhi, Hong Kong and Johannesburg have all been affected.