The start of a 48-hour walkout by BA pilots forced the national carrier to cancel virtually all flights on Monday, with no sign of a resolution ahead of more planned strikes. Heathrow Terminal 5, BA’s main operating hub, was almost deserted, when it would normally be bustling with passengers. BA carries about 145,000 passengers on an average day. Only five BA flights were expected to operate out of about 800 that would normally be scheduled after its first ever pilot strike, called by the union Balpa in a long-running pay dispute. Two of the flights were leases, where the plane and crew are hired under another operator, and the other three are understood to have been flown by non-Balpa pilots in BA’s management team. Balpa has rejected a pay rise of 11.9% over three years, arguing for a profit share for its members, who have accepted cuts to pay and pensions in previous years but now argue they should get more because the company is posting record profits. The BA CE Álex Cruz called for “unconditional” talks to continue but Balpa said the airline had refused to commit to meaningful negotiations. BA had spent weeks contacting passengers to offer refunds or to rebook travel to another date or airline since 23 August, when the strike dates were announced. While BA was criticised as customers initially struggled to get through to call centres and some were wrongly advised their flights were cancelled, the airline said it had fielded almost 400,000 calls to help customers. Operational problems could continue after the strike because planes and pilots need to be in position for subsequent journeys. BA is expected to start confirming cancellations for late September in the next couple of days, with a further Balpa strike due on 27 September, should the standoff continue.<br/>
oneworld
This week's BAs strike has caused chaos for an estimated 280,000 passengers who were due to fly with the airline. But it has also rocketed up fares to destinations around the world by up to 2,100%, leaving the UK isolated amid sold-out routes and stratospherically priced flights. While air ticket prices are typically fluid and rises during periods of heavy demand are not uncommon, one expert said the level of increase seen during this strike was particularly extreme. A return flight this week from London to Nice, in the South of France, costs as much as GBP1,272 ($1,573) for less than two hours in the air. That was the price offered on Monday morning for an easyJet flight departing London Gatwick Monday evening, and returning Wednesday morning. Returning Tuesday cost a little less, at GBP1,055. Those fares -- which did not include seat assignments, checked baggage, or any food or drink -- had sold out by 3 p.m. Monday. Nice seemed particularly affected by the two-day strike. All eight daily easyJet flights from Nice to London were sold out on Monday and Tuesday, the British Airways strike days. The cheapest return flight on Wednesday September 11 was GBP448.50 ($555) one-way. Meanwhile, BA was charging GBP694 ($858) for a Nice-London Heathrow flight on Wednesday evening, as it struggles to get back on schedule. British Airways is selling return fares to Nice on other dates in September for GBP58 -- making this week's flights nearly 22 times as expensive.<br/>