British Airways prepares for a cabin crew strike by making flying even more miserable

[marmar]

BA Goes High-Density on Seating, Scraps Hot Food to Beat Strike
By Steven Rothwell


March 16 (Bloomberg) -- British Airways Plc will squeeze passengers into high-density planes with less legroom and no hot food as it seeks to minimize cancellations during a three- day strike by 12,000 cabin crew.

The carrier’s plan includes swapping an Airbus SAS A319 single-aisle model for a rented A321, spokesman James von der Fecht said in an interview. The plane will accommodate more than 200 people in coach-class seats, versus 117 on the A319 and about 175 on its own A321s, which include premium cabins.

BA plans to fly 60 percent of customers in the walkout from March 20 even though it will operate only 850 daily flights, or 43 percent of the usual total. Meals will be cold, no children’s menu will be available and vegetarians are being urged to bring their own food. Passengers with business-class tickets will be compensated where forced to fly in economy.

“It’s not a solution for the long term but something to keep the show on the road,” said John Strickland, analyst at aviation specialist JLS Consulting Ltd. “There will certainly be an element of pragmatism to it, but most people will accept that so long they get to where they want to go.”

British Airways will rent as many as 22 planes complete with pilots and flight attendants for deployment on short-haul routes from London’s Heathrow airport, where it aims to keep about 30 percent of services of services flying. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akWYHXXTuTDw&pos=9

[hobbit709]

1. That should keep the passengers using their airline.

[MindPilot]

2. So in other words they will be just like any US domestic airline

on a good day.