Global Airport News

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh has said that the airline's management will not back down over the cabin crew dispute.

In a speech to the Association of British Travel Agents he said that he would be prepared to run a near-full flight schedule if further industrial action goes ahead.

Mr Walsh claimed that it was "entirely" the Unite union's fault that a resolution had not been reached in the past 12 months to the industrial dispute.

The dispute began when the BA management introduced changes to working practices, reducing cabin crew numbers and proposed a pay freeze.

After a series of days of industrial action, the dispute focused on the issue of the management's withdrawal of employee travel perks for those who had taken part in the strikes.

Mr Walsh told the ABTA annual convention: "We should have faced up to these challenges 10 years ago.

He added: "In the past I have seen managers and businesses ignore issues and back down in the face of industrial action. We are not going to do that."

He said that while the management was working with Unite to reach an agreement the management team was also working on a "very robust" contingency plan.

Mr Walsh said that in event of another strike BA hoped to be able to run a full service at Gatwick and London City airports and all its Heathrow long-haul flights. The only question was how many of its Heathrow short-haul services it would be able to operate.

The speech came as Lee Bayliss, a candidate for the leadership of Unite, criticised the union's handling of the BA cabin crew issue.

He told The Guardian newspaper: "It [the dispute] has been disastrous. It has lowered our standing and our reputation. We need to make sure it never happens again."