BA has rejected an olive branch from pilots’ union Balpa to hold talks and call off next week’s strikes, describing the offer as a “cynical” proposal that would cost the airline an additional GBP50m. Most of BA’s 4,300 pilots based at Heathrow and Gatwick are due to go on strike Monday and Tuesday over pay and conditions for the first time in the airline’s history. While BA has not confirmed the number of cancellations, it is expected that only a small number of its more than 800 daily flights will take off. Balpa said it had written to BA’s chief executive, Alex Cruz, on Thursday with a proposal to end the stand-off, which saw its pilots vote overwhelmingly for industrial action after eight months of pay talks. BA had offered an 11.5% deal over three years to pilots. The union said it would call off the strikes on 9 and 10 September if BA would hold meaningful talks. A further strike is scheduled for 27 September, and more dates could follow. General secretary, Brian Strutton, said: “Our members’ resolve is very strong and they remain very angry with BA, but they also want to leave no stone unturned in trying to find a resolution to their dispute.” He said the new offer showed that pilots were “willing to be flexible but still stand united in getting a better deal”. However, BA rejected the proposal as too late and expensive. The airline said: “We remain open to constructive talks with Balpa to resolve the pay negotiations, but we do not believe the union is acting in good faith by making an 11th-hour inflated proposal which would cost an additional £50m. We at BA have acted with integrity through many months of negotiations. We and the union’s leaders agreed and shook on a deal on Monday 12 August only for the union to backtrack on that agreement and return with new and unrealistic demands.”<br/>
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A Ukrainian court Thursday released on bail a man suspected of involvement in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014 that killed 298 people. A judge said that Volodymyr Tsemakh, whom Ukraine’s security service has identified as a former commander of Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, should be released from custody immediately, pending further investigations. Tsemakh is one of the people who could be handed over to Russia in a widely anticipated prisoner exchange. Last week, Dutch prosecutors urged the authorities in Ukraine not to allow Tsemakh to travel to Russia, fearing this could jeopardize its investigation into Flight MH17, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. This week, 40 European politicians wrote to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with the same request, according to European Parliament member Kati Piri. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that talks on a prisoner exchange were being finalised and that the swap could involve a large number of people. He said it could mark a step towards normalizing relations between the two countries. A Dutch-led international investigation team has issued international arrest warrants for three Russians and a Ukrainian - not including Tsemakh - on suspicion of murder in connection with the downing of the airliner.<br/>
An American Airlines mechanic based at Miami International Airport was arrested on Thursday on a charge that he sabotaged the navigation equipment of a flight carrying 150 people, forcing it to be grounded just before takeoff, the authorities said. The mechanic, Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, told investigators on Thursday that he had tampered with the air data module system on Flight 2834 from Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas on July 17 because he was disgruntled about an impasse over a union contract, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. The equipment, which is housed in a compartment beneath the cockpit and near the nose landing gear, keeps track of an aircraft’s speed and pitch as well as other critical flight data. As the Boeing 737-800 was approaching the departure runway and powering up its engines, the crew got an error message and aborted the takeoff, the authorities said. Security camera footage showed that Alani had gained access to the compartment housing the plane’s air data module system, where he inserted a piece of foam to obstruct the equipment, according to investigators. “Alani stated that his intention was not to cause harm to the aircraft or its passengers,” the criminal complaint said. “Alani explained to law enforcement that he was upset at the stalled contract dispute between the union workers and American Airlines, and that this dispute had affected him financially. Alani claimed that he tampered with the target aircraft in order to cause a delay or have the flight canceled in anticipation of obtaining overtime work.” Story has more details.<br/>