Dear Swire Travel Corporate Customers,

Please be advised that Unite, the union representing more than 10,000 British Airways (BA) cabin crew, announced its members will strike March 20-22 and March 27-30, 2010. At the same time, Unite is balloting its members on a new labor contract offered by BA management. If members approve of the plan, the strikes will likely be called off; however, approval is unlikely.

Expect London Heathrow (LHR) to be most heavily affected; BA promised that the London City Airport (LCY) would not experience any cancellations. Long-haul flights, especially those from abroad to the UK will most likely be less affected than domestic and European flights, but could still experience significant delays and cancellations. BA will replace some of the cabin crew with contract personnel; staffing long-haul flights will get priority. No flights operated by codeshare partners will be affected by the BA strike.

During past strikes, BA has rebooked passengers on other airlines, but due to capacity limits, only a small number of BA travelers will be able to take advantage of such arrangements during the upcoming strikes. The airline has not yet announced an emergency schedule, but will most likely do so within five to seven days of the start date of the strike. BA has announced, however, that passengers booked on flights from March 19-31 will be able to rebook, cancel or get a refund for flights free of charge.

If the labor action takes place as planned, it would be one of the largest in BA history, affecting approximately one million passengers and grounding up to 1,000 flights. Despite Unite's strong support of the strike, it is unlikely that the labor action will take place for the entire duration announced; however, disruptions could nevertheless be severe.

We would suggest that the affected passengers check the latest flight details with the respective airline to reconfirm all flight plans if flying in Bristish Airways services for the said periods.  We will be re-booking affected travellers on alternative flights but we would be very grateful if you could also contact us to reconfirm your latest flight arrangement to avoid oversight on our part.   In the meantime, for emergency assistance, please call your designated travel consultants.

Please note that the above-mentioned information were from our available source of information and were considered factual and correct at time of dissemination.

We would be grateful if you could disseminate the above information to all your colleagues.

Thank you very much for your kind attention and your valued patronage.  Should you require further information regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to call your designated travel consultant.