Willie Walsh urges BA boss to 'make a deal' and resolve pilot strike

The CE of British Airways’ owner has expressed sympathy for striking pilots, and urged – with thinly veiled criticism – the airline’s boss to “get involved” to negotiate a deal. Willie Walsh, the CE of IAG, raised hopes for a resolution to a pay dispute that saw the first pilot strikes in BA history, admitting it was “frustrating for me at times” to be on the sidelines of the dispute. He said it was a matter for BA’s management, but added that there was a “deal to be done” and he was “sure pilots’ issues could be resolved”. Walsh suggested he would have handled pilots “concerns and frustrations” differently from the BA CE, Alex Cruz, adding: “I probably understand their issues better because I used to be a pilot. If I were there I would probably want to address those.” Asked whether Cruz had his backing, Walsh said: “Alex is the CEO. He’s the boss, he has responsibility.” Invited to express confidence, Walsh said: “I don’t use football analogies.” BA pilots went on strike for two days last month, causing virtually all of the airline’s scheduled flights to be cancelled on 9 and 10 September. A third day of action was called off but only after BA had cancelled further flights. IAG issued a profit warning last month, saying the cumulative impact of the industrial action had led to 2,325 flight cancellations over the whole period, and to other losses due to rebookings, with an estimated net financial impact of E137m.<br/>