Catering row strikes 'cost BA up to £45m'

British Airways today said the wildcat strikes that paralysed its Heathrow operations this summer cost it between £35m (€51.8m) and £45m (€71m).

Planes were grounded at the airport for 24 hours as BA baggage handlers walked out following the sacking of hundreds of staff at the airline’s caterer, Gate Gourmet.

BA - now under the stewardship of former Aer Lingus boss Willie Walsh - revealed the cost of the dispute and the “associated unlawful industrial action” today as it posted flat first-half profits of £365m (€540.3m).

The carrier said the costs of the industrial action would not have a “material impact” on its performance compared with last year, when it also suffered operational troubles.

In its first set of financial results since the Gate Gourmet dispute, BA said pre-tax profits of £365m (€540.3m) for the six months to September 30 compared with £368m (€544.6m) in the same period last year.

The flat performance was in spite of an 8% hike in revenues to £4.26bn (€6.3bn) from £3.94bn (€5.8bn).

While the carrier said results were not materially affected by the summer strikes – which caused travel chaos for an estimated 100,000 passengers – it did blame soaring fuel costs.

In the first quarter, fuel costs were up 37.6% and over the next three months they were up 51.3%. Chief executive Willie Walsh described the increase as “staggering”.

But the airline said it was not changing its forecast for its annual fuel bill of £1.67bn (€2.5bn).

BA chairman Martin Broughton said: “Fuel costs continue to be a challenge for the industry, but our guidance is unchanged, with total fuel costs expected to be up by £525m (€777m) this year.”