BRITISH AIRWAYS has trained up to 1,000 pilots to act as strikebreakers if cabin crew go ahead with industrial action next month, chief executive Willie Walsh said yesterday.
Travellers face massive disruption and delays if the strikes, planned from March 1, go ahead.
The official announcement on a strike is to be made on Monday with large numbers of crew expected to vote for industrial action.
The role of the pilots is central to Mr Walsh's strategy to beat the strike because they already have the security clearance and safety knowledge needed to step into the cabin crews' shoes.
Mr Walsh revealed his plans at a private monthly meeting of the Association of European Airlines in Brussels yesterday.
His aim is to keep at least some flights flying in a bid to break the stranglehold of the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association, a branch of the Unite union. It has been balloting its 12,000 members for action in a row over jobs, pay and conditions.
The news will infuriate union militants whose leaders have already publicly condemned BA's attempts to recruit
oil painting volunteer 'scab' labour to break their strike as 'provocative.' But until Mr Walsh spoke, no one knew the scale of the strikebreaking effort.
A high-ranking aviation source close to the AEA meeting in the Belgian capital which Mr Walsh was chairing said: 'Willie Walsh made no bones about it.
oil painting 'He told all the airline bosses at the meeting: "We now have 1,000 pilots who are going to train as cabin crew and act as crew on the flights." He also said he expected the strike would go ahead.' BA's aim will be to roster sufficient crews to keep at least a symbolic skeleton service running.
The company said last night: 'We are not discussing any details at this stage. We continue to put our customers' interests first and we will explore all options to enable us to operate the best flying programme possible in the event of industrial action.' News of the strike-breaking plan comes on the eve of today's London High Court ruling over the airline's decision to bring in new contracts for cabin crew last year.
Under the new terms the number of cabin crew on a jumbo jet long haul flight will be reduced from 15 to 14 to save money. BA claims it faces 'commercial catastrophe' if judges grant an injunction to stop the airline introducing the new cost-cutting measures.
Unite is challenging the new contracts imposed from November last year, arguing they have hit pay, terms and conditions for workers.
The union says it made its legal challenge 'to prevent BA from imposing, without agreement, widespread contractual changes upon the cabin crew'.
BA has insisted the changes do not alter contractual terms and conditions for individual crew members and challenged the injunction application.ghd mini styler
The company says its cabin crew are 'the best paid in the country by some way'.
It has highlighted official Civil Aviation Authority figures saying BA's crew earn [pounds sterling]29,900 a year compared with [pounds sterling]14,400 for their counterparts at Virgin Atlantic.
Mr Walsh has also warned that cabin crew who do strike will lose their lucrative perks, including ultra-cheap flights with the airline, for which staff pay 10 per cent of the full fare.
ghd mini stylerThe secrecy surrounding the strike-breakers has already led to conflict.
Fifteen BA cabin crew who used the social networking site Facebook to swap comments and emails about a 'name and shame' list of pilots and others who are being trained as volunteer cabin crew have been suspended and face dismissal if found guilty.
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Willie Walsh: Revealed his plans