British Airways pilots have warned the airline that it risks prompting more strikes after BA blamed industrial action for falling profits and took a E137m hit from the walkouts. IAG warned of a 6% drop in annual profits after revealing the high cost of strikes this month that led to more than 2,000 flight cancellations. Balpa said its BA members believed the carrier’s management was “treating them with contempt”, and had asked Balpa to consider more strike dates. Balpa said Thursday it was “completely disingenuous” of the airline to blame pilots for its profit performance. The union said BA could have avoided the strikes, and their cost, for an outlay of just GBP5m in the pay negotiations. The airline, however, has claimed that the pilot demands would cost the airline an extra GBP50m. <br/>
oneworld
Japan Airlines has introduced a feature on its seat booking system that shows where young children are seated. A "child" icon appears when a passenger is travelling with children aged under 2 years. Japan Airlines' website says the icon "lets other passengers know a child may be sitting there". However, the airline warned the tool was not fool-proof, as the icon might not appear if a ticket was booked through a third party or if there was a last-minute change of aircraft. According to the website flyingwithababy.com, one of the most family-friendly airlines is Etihad, which has extras such as free pushchairs to use at hubs. Emirates and Gulf Air also score highly according to the website. <br/>
Qatar Airways reported a fiscal year 2018/19 net loss of QAR2.3b (US$639m), widened from a net loss of QAR251.6m in the year-ago period. The carrier attributed the results to loss of mature routes, higher fuel costs and foreign exchange fluctuations. Its FY2018/19 ended March 31. The airline said it was challenging year and—while it is disappointing the group registered a loss—the underlying fundamentals of its business remain extremely robust. The carrier is facing the second year of an air space blockade by neighbours that has restricted air routes and driven costs higher. The blockade over Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt has barred the carrier from flying over the territory. As a result, the airline’s fuel costs increased 36% to QAR18.1b from QAR13.3b year-over-year by using more fuel. <br/>