British Airways chief's promise to customers if pilots strike
IAG boss Willie Walsh seeks to reassure passengers as peace talks continue to avert summer holiday action by BA pilots.
Friday 2 August 2019 12:18, UK
The head of British Airways' parent firm has told Sky News the airline will do "everything we can" for customers if pilots strike at the height of the summer holidays.
Willie Walsh was speaking as representatives of BA pilots and the airline continue talks at the conciliation service ACAS aimed at resolving the dispute over pay.
Earlier this week, BA failed in a bid to challenge the legality of a strike ballot organised by BALPA, the pilots' union, which had recorded overwhelming support for the threatened action.
BALPA has to give 14 days' notice of any strikes but has pledged to give talks a final chance - until the end of the week at least.
BA has said any strikes, from mid-August, would be timed to cause maximum disruption to the travelling public at the peak of the summer holiday season.
It has estimated the resulting chaos could cost it up to £40m per day.
BA pilots are battling for a pay rise and a share of the airline's success - holding out for a profit share and share save scheme.
Mr Walsh - a former pilot and BA boss himself - is now head of the airline's parent firm, International Airlines Group (IAG), which also takes in Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling.
He argued they had been offered a "fair" deal of 11.5% over three years.
He was speaking hours after IAG reported a 43% decline in profit after tax and exceptional items to €806m (£738m) as higher fuel costs continued to eat into margins.
The costs were partly offset by stronger growth in North America.
Mr Walsh said the group had a duty to all staff and investors to ensure it remained market competitive.
He told Ian King Live that IAG must have a "sustainable future", saying: "Yes, we are dong very well at the moment... but it is important to remember that a lot of that profitability is designed to enable us to secure the investment plans that we have for the business."
This included bolstering its fleet to make it more fuel efficient.
He said that if the negotiations failed and pilots refused to work that "we will do everything we can to provide services to all of our customers."
Mr Walsh said IAG was not currently seeing any evidence of customer concern over Brexit - repeating his assessment that it was ready for any no-deal Brexit scenario.
IAG shares were more than 4% higher on the FTSE 100.