Thousands of BA flights canceled as crew on strike

BA said it would handle as many as 49,000 passengers on both Saturday and Sunday. That compares with the average 75,000 for a normal weekend day in March.

At its Heathrow base, more than 60 percent of long-haul flights will operate, but only 30 percent of short-haul. At Gatwick, all long-haul flights and more than half short-haul flights will run as normal.

BA said some passengers avoided the disruption flying a day earlier, including some flying to the Six Nations rugby match between France and England in Paris on Saturday evening.

Any passengers with canceled flights from Saturday through the end of the second planned strike on March 30 will be allowed to rebook on another BA flight within 355 days at no extra charge, but no refunds were being offered, the airline said.

The BA chief, Walsh, said he had "no concern whatsoever" about the threat of solidarity actions in other countries.

Nevertheless, the U.S. International Brotherhood of Teamsters urged travelers to find alternatives.

"We are keenly aware of British Airways' operations in the United States and the cities served by the airline," said the Teamsters, representing 40,000 aviation industry workers. "We continue to look at this situation as it evolves and are keeping our options open."

The U.S. Association of Professional Flight Attendants also expressed support for BA, saying it was concerned about the use of volunteer crew throughout the strike period.

The airline on Friday offered a compromise on a proposed pay freeze this year, offering a 3 percent rise next year and the year after and then an inflation-linked increase in 2013/14 capped at 4 percent.

Walsh said Friday it was "deeply regrettable" that the union rejected the airline's proposals. BA says the disputed changes are critical to the airline's survival.

Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley, which has warned it will schedule more strikes for after the Easter break if the dispute is not resolved, said BA "does not want to negotiate and ultimately wants to go to war with this union."

Unite argues it was not properly consulted on the changes, which also include a switch to part-time work for 3,000 staff and a reduction in cabin crew sizes from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from Heathrow.

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