BAA to strike

[sheldrake]

We are due to fly from Heathrow on 28th August to cruise with Princess,now BAA have voted to strike,most likely on that date,now what happens,flights booked through Princess via travel agent. :mad:

 

Pat

[Keith1010]

If this is correct and there is certaint about a strike (I haven't been keeping up with this) then have your TA followup with Princess to see if they are working on getting you moved to another airline.

 

Keith

[Sargent_Schultz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10954851

[catllar]

If this is correct and there is certaint about a strike (I haven't been keeping up with this) then have your TA followup with Princess to see if they are working on getting you moved to another airline.

 

Keith

 

I think you'll find this is not an AIRLINE issue, but an AIRPORT issue, it is BAA -British Airport Authority- staff who are going out, not BA- British Airways. You are going to have to get to an airport not owned by BAA.

[Keith1010]

I think you'll find this is not an AIRLINE issue, but an AIRPORT issue, it is BAA -British Airport Authority- staff who are going out, not BA- British Airways. You are going to have to get to an airport not owned by BAA.

 

I'd still find out from the cruise line whether they are looking into other options such as a flight to another airport and then a train.

I would at least want to know what if anything they are looking at.

 

Keith

[scottbee]

We are due to fly from Heathrow on 28th August to cruise with Princess,now BAA have voted to strike,most likely on that date,now what happens,flights booked through Princess via travel agent. :mad:

 

Pat

 

BAA is the Airport Authority that operates LHR (and SOU); so you would need to find a non BAA airport such as LGW, MAN or BHX to avoid this. If you're sailing out of Southampton BHX/Birmingham and LGW/London Gatwick both work well, as they both have train stations with services to Southampton (2 h from LGW, 2h15 from BHX).

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airport_Authority

[sefin28]

We are due to fly from Heathrow on 28th August to cruise with Princess,now BAA have voted to strike,most likely on that date,now what happens,flights booked through Princess via travel agent. :mad:

 

Pat

 

Hi Pat

 

We are flying on the same day and are very worried. Hopefully if the worst comes to the worst we could fly out of Gatwick. I Havent spoken to our travel agent yet as i do shift work so on nights but hopefully they will have contingency plans in place for us. Fingers crossed it all works out

 

Sarah

[FlyerTalker]

If you're sailing out of Southampton BHX/Birmingham and LGW/London Gatwick both work well, as they both have train stations with services to Southampton (2 h from LGW, 2h15 from BHX).

And, for those who are put off by the cost of transfers to/from Southampton, you can buy advance purchase rail tickets on Southern between LGW and Southampton for 3.75 UK pounds (less than $6). Yes, you need to schlep your own luggage to/from the train platforms (though porters are available) and on and off the train, plus a taxi in Southampton. But the savings can be significant. The Southern train is quite comfortable, with a nice route through the English countryside, including a view of the castle at Arundel.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Since they booked through Princess, I suspect they are at the mercy of whatever Princess decides. A deviation might be possible at a price.

[Keith1010]

Since they booked through Princess, I suspect they are at the mercy of whatever Princess decides. A deviation might be possible at a price.

 

Their TA should followup with Princess to see how they are addressing this.

 

Each cruise line is different but the one that I sail regularly (Crystal and yes it is a luxury cruise line) wil be pro-active on these types of items either rebooking air flights for the guest or getting contingency plans lines up.

 

So, it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

Keith

[Globaliser]

Each cruise line is different but the one that I sail regularly (Crystal and yes it is a luxury cruise line) wil be pro-active on these types of items either rebooking air flights for the guest or getting contingency plans lines up.

It certainly doesn't hurt to ask, but if the strike goes ahead the options will be very limited, because the relevant airports will simply be closed on strike days.

 

What neither sheldrake nor sefin28 says is where they're flying to. There may simply be no flights to those destinations from Gatwick, and even if there are, they're likely to be pretty heavily booked already (and will probably become fully booked over the next few days). There is very little chance that many Heathrow flights can be moved to Gatwick because of capacity issues.

 

Having said all that, this appears to be a standard pay dispute which has been blown up - probably out of all proportion - by the media because "air travel" and "strike" have become hot buttons this year; "air travel disruption" stories are always sexy; and this is happening during a slow news month. I'd put a small wager on the dispute being settled by a day or two before the first strike day.

[Sargent_Schultz]

I think you'll find this is not an AIRLINE issue, but an AIRPORT issue, it is BAA -British Airport Authority- staff who are going out, not BA- British Airways. You are going to have to get to an airport not owned by BAA.

 

But isn't it the same union, different day? Fire all of them.

[SwissDave]

But isn't it the same union, different day? Fire all of them.

 

 

Not quite. Unite is the name of the union, but it is an umbrella organisation of different branches. The BA strikes were by BASSA branch. The strike being planned affecting BAA is for a group of workers covering firefighters, engineers, security staff who are in a different branch of unite.

 

As union membership has declined so much in the UK a lot of the unions joined together under banner unions.

[Sargent_Schultz]

and British Airways is BAA's largest customer?

 

How much of BAA does BA own?

 

Might as well put the declining unions out of their misery.

[AmoMondo]

and British Airways is BAA's largest customer?

 

How much of BAA does BA own?

 

Might as well put the declining unions out of their misery.

 

I wasn't aware BA owned any of BAA. They are both public listed companies.

 

As for Unite - it is probably one of the largest Unions in the UK. I work for a bank and it is our Union. It swallowed the Union that was for banks and Insurance Companies. Also swallowed up the National Union of Public Employees,

 

As far as the OP is concerned, all you can do at this time is get your TA to find out the what ifs. Proncess provided the flight and if it can't operate what do they do - transfer to another cruise at a later date, offer a full refund, try to make alternative travel arrangements or what.

 

Unite says they will publish strike dates on Monday to allow more talks over the weekend. Hopefully it will be resolved. One thing is for sure LGW and surrounding airports simply do not have the capacity to absorb all cancelled Heathrow flights in the event it closes for the day.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Major shareholders are usually known in publicly traded companies. I was curious if either BA or BAA owned a significant amount of the other?

 

If they own any mutual funds, I would think they do own a little of each other, as does probably everybody else.

[YXU AC*SE]

Major shareholders are usually known in publicly traded companies. I was curious if either BA or BAA owned a significant amount of the other?

 

If they own any mutual funds, I would think they do own a little of each other, as does probably everybody else.

 

BAA is not publicly held. It is wholly-owned through an holding company, ADI - Airport Development and Investment, which in turn is owned by Grupo Ferrovial - the Spanish transport infrastructure company (61%); the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, (the province of Québec's public pension fund - 29%); and GIC Special Investments, a Singaporean private equity company (10%)

 

Scott.

[sheldrake]

Hi Sarah,we are flying to Miami,I have looked at Gatwick,but I dont think AA fly non stop from there.I will contact the travel agent on Monday after BAA reveal the dates of the strike.All we can do is hope they call it off,if not I will request a refund or a cruise at a later date. I am 70 and I dont feel like trekking half round the country to find another airport. I will see what Princess comes up with,I am sure they will sort something out.Pat

[Globaliser]

Major shareholders are usually known in publicly traded companies. I was curious if either BA or BAA owned a significant amount of the other?

AFAIK, zero in both directions.

If they own any mutual funds, I would think they do own a little of each other, as does probably everybody else.

There's no reason for either company to have any investments in mutual funds or the like. Their pension schemes might, but pension scheme holdings are independent of the parent trading companies.

 

There's also no reason to have a go at the union as a whole. Even if you look only at the British Airways dispute, Unite is the same union that has reasonably and amicably settled all the issues relating to other British Airways work groups (which, you will remember, are all contributing to the company's resources in fighting the cabin crew union branch, BASSA - to the extent of working as volunteer cabin crew during the strikes). The difficulty there is BASSA's intrasigent and ultra-militant behaviour, which is now being barely tolerated by Unite. However, by the union's constitution the branches all have a great deal of autonomy, so the union's national leadership is sometimes in something of a dilemma.

 

I don't know the ins and outs of the BAA dispute, but the fact that a strike ballot has been held and has returned the result that it did does not in itself mean that the union - or the workforce concerned - is being unreasonable. BAA can't exactly hold itself out as being a shining example of a commercial operation. So the union and its members are not necessarily in the wrong on this one. One would have to learn a lot more about this dispute to know what the true position is.

[iain48]

AFAIK, zero in both directions.There's no reason for either company to have any investments in mutual funds or the like. Their pension schemes might, but pension scheme holdings are independent of the parent trading companies.

 

There's also no reason to have a go at the union as a whole. Even if you look only at the British Airways dispute, Unite is the same union that has reasonably and amicably settled all the issues relating to other British Airways work groups (which, you will remember, are all contributing to the company's resources in fighting the cabin crew union branch, BASSA - to the extent of working as volunteer cabin crew during the strikes). The difficulty there is BASSA's intrasigent and ultra-militant behaviour, which is now being barely tolerated by Unite. However, by the union's constitution the branches all have a great deal of autonomy, so the union's national leadership is sometimes in something of a dilemma.

 

I don't know the ins and outs of the BAA dispute, but the fact that a strike ballot has been held and has returned the result that it did does not in itself mean that the union - or the workforce concerned - is being unreasonable. BAA can't exactly hold itself out as being a shining example of a commercial operation. So the union and its members are not necessarily in the wrong on this one. One would have to learn a lot more about this dispute to know what the true position is.

 

Globaliser very good analysis and a change from the opinion of the majority of posters on this site that unions are the devil incarnate. Many people in unions are only looking for fair treatment and do not strike lightly. However when negotiations lead nowhere where can the workforce

go. As in all organisations there will be some who look for trouble but certainly a minority.

 

Iain

[Sargent_Schultz]

It takes a majority to win a strike vote.

 

OTOH, not all management is Satan's cousin.

 

Interesting how so many on both sides claim to be victims, when neither is. It is the passengers who lose and are the victims.

 

What's wrong with outlawing strikes and allowing voting for binding arbitration instead? Strikes are nothing more than extortion.

[Keith1010]

AFAIK, zero in both directions.There's no reason for either company to have any investments in mutual funds or the like. Their pension schemes might, but pension scheme holdings are independent of the parent trading companies.

 

There's also no reason to have a go at the union as a whole. Even if you look only at the British Airways dispute, Unite is the same union that has reasonably and amicably settled all the issues relating to other British Airways work groups (which, you will remember, are all contributing to the company's resources in fighting the cabin crew union branch, BASSA - to the extent of working as volunteer cabin crew during the strikes). The difficulty there is BASSA's intrasigent and ultra-militant behaviour, which is now being barely tolerated by Unite. However, by the union's constitution the branches all have a great deal of autonomy, so the union's national leadership is sometimes in something of a dilemma.

 

I don't know the ins and outs of the BAA dispute, but the fact that a strike ballot has been held and has returned the result that it did does not in itself mean that the union - or the workforce concerned - is being unreasonable. BAA can't exactly hold itself out as being a shining example of a commercial operation. So the union and its members are not necessarily in the wrong on this one. One would have to learn a lot more about this dispute to know what the true position is.

 

Excellent post. Your comments make perfect sense.

 

Some folks think things are always black or blue, that one way is always right and that the other way is always wrong.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

Keith

[minikiss]

Just spotted on the BBC website that the strike threats have been called off as a new pay deal has been tabled.

We aren't due to fly till Novemeber so I knew we wouldn't be effected this time round but it still left me with some worry that it would raise it's ugly head later in the year. In which case we might have been.......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10449594

[Got2Cruise]

Just spotted on the BBC website that the strike threats have been called off as a new pay deal has been tabled.

We aren't due to fly till Novemeber so I knew we wouldn't be effected this time round but it still left me with some worry that it would raise it's ugly head later in the year. In which case we might have been.......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10449594

 

Thanks for posting this. I'm sure the folks who are cruising in the near future can make a sigh of relief. Politics has no place on this thread, it does nothing to help those who need guidance.

[Globaliser]

We aren't due to fly till Novemeber so I knew we wouldn't be effected this time round but it still left me with some worry that it would raise it's ugly head later in the year.

The union is recommending acceptance this time round, so (when added to the way that the membership voted in the strike ballot) the chances of this dispute re-emerging is very small.