British Airways is preparing for the longest strike yet in its dispute with some of its cabin crew as members of BA’s London-based “mixed fleet” group of flight attendants are planning to stop work from July 1-16. The initial reason for the long-running dispute, salary levels, has actually largely been settled, according to the Unite union, which represents the striking staff. “The issue is now largely around sanctions that have been meted out to the people who went on strike,” a Unite spokesperson said. These sanctions included withdrawal of travel concessions and other benefits, he said. “We had put forward a compromise, but that was refused,” he added. As a result, Unite now plans to take 1,400 cases of affected personnel to the UK’s employment tribunal system, which arbitrates between employers and staff in such disputes. <br/>
oneworld
American Airlines is looking to IBM to help put an end to terrible airport experiences. The airline is starting to move its online services to IBM's cloud network, beginning with its website, apps and airport kiosks, as well as a handful of internal processes. American announced in November that it had chosen IBM's Cloud over competitors Amazon and Microsoft, but it's taken since then to begin its transition. The move to IBM Cloud won't do much when it comes to legroom on American's planes. But customers will likely notice other changes, particularly when it comes to booking flights and getting access to new features online or through their phones. American declined to say when the changes will be public, saying only that the features are in development and will go live in the near future. <br/>