BA cancels over 1,000 summer flights from Heathrow and Gatwick

British Airways must cancel more than 1,000 additional flights this summer from Heathrow and Gatwick as staff shortages continue to affect its operations, while refueling staff at Heathrow has announced that it will end its tools later this month.

More than 100,000 travellers, including those planning to visit popular holiday destinations such as Malaga, Palma and Faro, will be affected, although BA is mainly reducing routes with several daily departures.

And in the latest threat to the summer getaway, Heathrow workers who refuel planes for 70 airlines, including Virgin, KLM, Air France and Emirates, have announced a 72-hour strike on July 21 to protest a three-year wage freeze.

The strike by 50 Unite Air Force personnel Fuel Services, one of four aircraft refueling companies at Heathrow, could disrupt and delay flights at the start of the summer holidays. British Airways has a separate supplier and will not be directly affected.

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: "Oil and gas companies are making huge profits , so AFS has the means to make an appropriate offer."

BA, which in the spring cut around 10% of its flights scheduled until October, decided to reduce its program further after the government proposed a 'slot amnesty' last month.

The move allowed airlines to temporarily curtail operations without losing the right to valuable landing slots at busy airports, normally allocated under a "use it or lose it" deal. it" rule.

A British Airways spokesperson said: "We took preventive action earlier this year to reduce our summer schedule to provide customers as much notice as possible of any changes to their travel plans.

"As the entire aviation industry continues to face the most difficult periodicities od in its history it has unfortunately become necessary to make further reductions, we are in contact with customers to apologize and offer to rebook or issue a full refund in July, and it is understood that 'a similar number of flights are cut from August schedules.

BA owner IAG's share price fell another 3% on the news. Its market value has plummeted 40% in just over four months as optimism over the post-Covid travel rebound waned gives way to a slew of negative headlines about aviation's inability to keep up with demand.

In May, BA cut capacity by about 8 000 flights for the summer, which she said would ensure resilience. She now plans to operate just under 80% of her pre-pandemic schedule after the latest cutback, a move that underscores how challenging recruiting remains.

The airline flew thousands of cabin crew and ground staff were laid off in 2020 and rehired the rest on lower terms. He said he was forced to take drastic measures to survive when coronavirus grounded all flights, leaving him to face losses of up to £20million a day.

Airlines and airports rushed to rehire staff, but struggled in a tight job market and long waits for background checks and security clearances. Long queues and chaotic cancellations have already become widespread at Easter and halfway through UK departure halls, even before the start of the high holiday season.

The threat remains of strikes by BA ground staff at its main base at Heathrow. Unite members have voted for action and are standing up for the 10% pay cuts imposed during the pandemic to be reversed.

BA is not unique in its troubles with its biggest competitor in the UK, easyJet, announced on Monday that it had parted ways with its chief operating officer Peter Bellew. The low-cost airline last month also