Are we finally done with British Air strikes, or just getting started?

This year, between the Icelandic volcano and the repeated UNITE strikes, booking flights on British Airways this year has been like trying to run between raindrops without getting wet.

And clients have reported that even on flights that have flown, the labor dispute has at times resulted in epecially cranky flight attendants and limited service. (Although at times, it’s been business as usual. and yes, I am aware that some readers will say “cranky flight attendants” IS business as usual.)

At this point, the strike actions have gone on so long, that the dispute is no longer even about the original issues, which centered on reducing one flight attendant on some long-haul flights. It’s now mostly about British Airways making good on its threat to strip travel privileges from cabin crew who struck the first time.

Now, with ANOTHER strike ballot closing on July 20, this time for strikes in September, there are signs that cooler heads might be prevailing, perhaps because both sides realize the airline has lost a great deal of business and money.

UNITE’s leaders also have not recommended which way to vote in this ballot, where they have previously recommended voting “no.”

As reported in a series of stories in the
U.K. Guardian, the UNITE current strike ballot has already been delayed, which means that future strikes would start no earlier than September, instead of during the August vacation season.

While it’s true, in terms of public relations, stranded families are a nightmare, it could be argued that stranded business travelers may do worse damage to the airline’s bottom line, because they can take their high-revenue tickets elsewhere.

(In fact, my personal opinion, if United Airlines had actually upgraded their 777s to London with flat-beds in business class as they have been promising to do for years, they could have taken even a bigger chunk out of British Airways’ traffic this year. But the old-style business class seats are just not in the same league as the British and Virgin seats.

The current British Airways proposal restores some benefits to members who have struck the airline in the past, but it will make the loss permanent should they go out again.

In return, the airline wants the union to be more more “balanced and measured” in its media communications from now on, indicating that they believe that UNITE has been at least holding their own in the public relations war.

On the other hand, as reported in Business Week, UNITE distributed a letter to shareholders at the airline’s annual meeting urging them to pressure the CEO for a compromise. So both sides are at least seemingly willing to negotiate, which hasn’t always been the case.

The biggest worry, however, in this latest strike ballot, is that even with the toned-down rhetoric and the union leadership’s official neutrality, the crew could still vote for another series of strikes. In which case, this could go on for a very long time indeed.

In a now related story, the EU has given its approval to the British Airways-Iberia merger, and British Airways is trying to get approval of a closer tie-in with American Airlines. Considering that such a “mega-alliance” would have more than half the transatlantic market, it would be a very good thing for travelers if British’s labor problems were solved before then.

From an outside perspective, my sense is that most travel agents and travelers have gotten beyond the point of caring who is more at fault here. We just want to be able to book flights with some reasonable expectation that they will take off, without worrying about it until the last minute.

Presumably, with the latest ballot closing in a week, we should know soon if the settlement is agreeable to both sides. Then we can all go back to worrying about more regular things like lost luggage, weather delays and, of course, volcanoes.