British Airways pledged that 99.5 per cent of flights would operate as some cabin crew began a 16-day strike on Saturday in a long-running row over pay.<br /><br />It involves ‘mixed fleet’ staff – working on both long and short-haul flights. The Unite trade union has described wage offers as “poverty pay”.<br /><br />Although that dispute has largely been resolved, Unite says the walkout is a response to sanctions on members involved in previous industrial action.<br /><br />It has slammed BA’s decision to lease some crewed planes from Qatar Airways to help ensure passengers reach their destinations.<br /><br />While the impact on flights is set to be limited, the stand-off is another potential threat to the airline’s image a little over a month after thousands of passengers were stranded by a computer systems outage caused by a <br />power surge.<br /><br />#Solidarity shout out to all BA mixed fleet crew taking 16 days of action over poverty pay from today https://t.co/ltBrEJf9eQ pic.twitter.com/PNpOFJ0aO8— Unite the union (@unitetheunion) 1 juillet 2017<br /><br />“Customers will take a dim view and a great British brand risks being further tarnished. We call on British Airways to drop the threats and drop the sanctions and resolve this long-running dispute,“ Unite national officer Oliver Richardson said in a statement.<br /><br />British Airways warned of further consequences for those who went on strike, but said all customers would reach their destinations.<br /><br />with Reuters<br />
