STRIKE CHAOS
Mayhem for 200k British Airways passengers as BA strike cancels almost all flights from Gatwick and Heathrow in ‘biggest shutdown in history’
ALMOST 200,000 passengers have been thrown into chaos today as the British Airways pilots' strike grounded hundreds of flights in the "biggest shutdown in history".
The airline was crippled as pilots launched their 48-hour pay strike - with most flights out of Gatwick and Heathrow cancelled today and tomorrow.
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The airline operates up to 850 flights a day, with most expected to be cancelled affecting about 195,000 customers over the two days.
Photographs of Heathrow Terminal five, the busiest hub for BA, show it almost empty of passengers after the cancellations.
And passengers have been urged to stay away from airports - with fears the strikes could last until Christmas.
Passengers slammed BA as their travel mayhem unfolded this morning, with some claiming they were left stranded and out of pocket already.
One unhappy passenger wrote: "Should be flying to Mexico this morning to start out 14 day holiday, instead flying on Wednesday but have lost two days off our holiday and you're not going to compensate for the lost two days.
"Absolutely disgraceful, I will never fly with BA again!!"
Another added: "You're a disgrace. My daughter (23 weeks pregnant) and husband stuck in LA and having to sort out their own return flights.
"Your phone lines are constantly on hold."
A third said: "About to finish our honeymoon, luckily American Airlines are getting us home after two nights of 1am phone calls after BA cancelled our flight.
"Having to take a downgraded flight home, losing many thousands of pounds worth of avios and upgrade vouchers. Disgraceful BA."
PILOT PAIN
British Airways has spent weeks offering refunds to passengers or the option to re-book to another date of travel or an alternative airline.
And while the strikes are scheduled for today and tomorrow, there are fears there could be knock on effects for Wednesday.
The airline tweeted: “We apologise for the significant impact industrial action will have. If your flight is cancelled, please don’t go to the airport.”
The travel chaos comes after pilots rejected BA's offered pay rise of 11.5 per cent.
BA said in a statement: "We understand the frustration and disruption Balpa's strike action has caused our customers. After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this.
"We remain ready and willing to return to talks with Balpa.
"Unfortunately, with no detail from Balpa on which pilots would strike, we had no way of predicting how many would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly, so we had no option but to cancel nearly 100 per cent of our flights."
Even Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the airline and pilots' union to "sort out" their differences to avert travel misery.
FLIGHT FIGHT British Airways strikes: What to do if your flight was cancelled or if you’ve rebooked after being wrongly emailed
BRITISH Airways passengers have been left fuming after their flights were cancelled due to strike action.
Many travellers were sent e-mails telling them their flight was not going ahead and to rebook - only to be told this was a mistake.
This led to many people paying for another flight which they didn't need, costing some travellers thousands of pounds.
BA has been struggling to deal with the influx of complaints after nearly 40,000 calls were made to the airline in the first 24 hours - and the chaos is still ongoing.
British Airways' customers services can be reached on 0800 727 800 for passengers who booked directly with the airline.
For Brits who are struggling to get through to the airline via phone, they can try the instead.
You can use it to claim for both delayed or cancelled flights, or if you've been left out of pocket because you've been wrongly told your flight has been cancelled.
Passengers can also check the current status of their flights through the Manage My Booking feature on BA's website or app.
However, the airline advises passengers who have booked through their travel agents to get in touch with them instead.
The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) warned the strikes could cost the company £40million a day.
Balpa general secretary Brian Strutton said: "(Pilots) have previously taken big pay cuts to help the company through hard times. Now BA is making billions of pounds of profit, its pilots have made a fair, reasonable and affordable claim for pay and benefits."
He claimed the dispute could have been settled for £5m.
The 3,000 Balpa members at British Airways plan another strike on September 27.
British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz called for talks with union bosses to continue in order to bring an end to the pilots' strike.
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He told Today: "The discussions must continue, they must be unconditional.
"The commitment of everyone at British Airways is to get over this particular dispute as quickly as possible.
"We urge the union to please sit down with us as quickly as we can so that we can reach an agreement."
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British Airways Chief Executive Álex Cruz defends BA's position as passengers are told to avoid airports as two days of strike action begin
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