British Airways cabin crew are all set to go on strike from March 20 to 22, 2010 and then again from March 27 to 30. The strike is not only going to cause massive travel disruptions, but also impact events well beyond BA’s normal sphere of influence.

The fight is over BA’s proposed plans to axe 1,700 jobs, impose a two-year wage freeze and introduce a second tier workforce.

Negotiations have been on-going for over a year, but Unite, the union representing the BA cabin crew, opted for the strike after a Dec 2009 ballot indicated that 81% of BA cabin crew support the strike.

British Airways has stopped selling seats on flights scheduled for the strike dates, and they’re currently in the process of finalizing the flight schedules.

As of now, BA says that all flights to and from London City and all longhaul flights to and from London Gatwick will operate normally.

Everything else is open to cancellation, and if you’re booked on British Airways for flights between 19 and 31 March 2010, you have the choice of rebooking or cancelling and obtaining a refund.

You might also want to keep your options open for April, because Unite says if the dispute is not resolved before then, they’re willing to consider going on strike again on April 14th.

Update 1: March 16, 2010 - British Airways to fly 60% of routes during strike. Plans to hand over plane to charter operators on some routes. Unite ready to meet with BA if management agrees to resubmit previous offer.

Update 2: March 17, 2010 - Unite gains Teamsters backing - possible backing on American side for strike. Teamsters members could refuse to clean and refuel BA planes on strike dates.  Gordon Brown urges BA and Unite to ‘keep talking.’

Germany’s ver.di service workers union agrees to help Unite in strike. Aviation section of Spain’s General Workers Union considering request for support.

Update 3: March 18, 2010 - British Airways and Unite in last-ditch talks before strike begins on Saturday. BA CEO Willie Walsh met Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, and handed over a letter. Walsh is meeting today with Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite. Woodley has also scheduled an afternoon gathering of representatives of Bassa, the Unite cabin crew branch.

Update 4: March 19, 2010 - BA CEO Willie Walsh issues statement titled “We Will Keep Our Flag Flying.” Says “I believe that Unite has made the wrong decision and misjudged the mood of our times.”

Looks like the last-ditch talks have fallen apart, or at the very least – there’s no deal as yet.

Confirmed – last ditch talks end in failure. Strike to begin at midnight tonight. Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley says BA “ultimately wants to go to war with this union.” 1,100 BA flights out of the 1,950 scheduled will be cancelled.

Update 5: March 20, 2010 - Day 1 of BA cabin crew strike: 161 BA flights at London’s Heathrow, Gatwick, and City airports were canceled, out of a total of 347 flights. Unite to hold rally near Heathrow in support of striking workers.

Delays mounting at Heathrow. BA says it will handle about 49,000 passengers over weekend, as compared to an average 75,000 for a normal weekend day in March. BA has already lost more than 25 million pounds (more than $37 million) because of canceled tickets and contingency costs. The two strikes combined could end up costing more than the 63 million pounds ($95 million) savings that BA was trying to achieve.

Update 6: March 21, 2010 - Day 2 of BA cabin crew strike: Over 25,000 travelers had their flights cancelled on Day 1. Unite says 80% of the total 12,000 BA cabin crew have walked out. Even so, looks like BA will get through the weekend without a complete meltdown. Given the high stakes, there’s going to be a huge effort to find a solution before the second half of the strike kicks in on the 27th March.

War of words goes to extreme lengths – Unite claims BA flew 32 empty planes on long-haul routes yesterday to prop up the number of uncancelled flights. BA says it is reinstating 20 cancelled flights because more staff than expected turned up for work on Day 1.

Update 7: March 22, 2010 - Day 3 of BA cabin crew strike: Strike continues. Unite claims only 30 per cent of BA services operated on Saturday. BA admits to running ghost flights. BA staff reporting for duty getting email and mobile phone threats.

Update 8: March 27, 2010 - BA cabin crew strike Part Deux begins. Day 1 – As of early Saturday, 93 departing flights and 38 arrivals have been cancelled at Heathrow. BA plans to fly over 75% of passengers during the 4-day strike period.

Update 9: March 28, 2010 - 42% of flights scheduled out of Heathrow cancelled as of lunchtime on Sunday. BA has leased 11 aircraft and crew from 6 different airlines. Dozens of flights on Saturday and Sunday flew empty – no crew or passengers. BA losing losing £7m a day.

Update 10: March 29, 2010 - Unite says BA using pilots as cabin crew. BA will be scrapping 319 flights (28.6%) on Monday. BA says 119,000 passengers flew on 930 flights during the weekend. Unite says BA inflating numbers.

Update 11: March 30, 2010 - BA vs Unite – Who Won?

To make the strike even more of a big deal, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown came down hard on Unite – one of the Labor Party’s biggest donors. In a BBC interview, Mr. Brown said “It is the wrong time, it is unjustified, it is deplorable, we shouldn’t have a strike. It is not in the company’s interest, it is not in the workers’ interest and it is certainly not in the national interest.”  

Wrong time, and not only for travelers, but also for the PM himself, whose Labour party is trailing behind the Conservatives in general election polls. The BA strike might lead to a rail strike, with the rail workers union considering an Easter walkout. Irate consumers and lack of labour support on a vast scale would combine to pull the rug out from under Gordon Brown.

On this side of the Atlantic, BA’s American partner AA is facing a similar D-Day. The Transport Workers Union, which represents 28,000 workers of American Airlines and American Eagle, is moving towards a strike and has asked to be released from its federally mediated contract talks.

If the mediation board agrees, the union would be free to authorize a strike after a 30-day period. This would be somewhere just after the mid-April deadline for the BA dispute. A successful BA strike would give AA workers more confidence to walkout.

 Here’s what British Airways CEO Willie Walsh has to say about the strike, and this is what Unite has to say.

Photo by Nick Warner