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British Airways strike is off

BA has struck a deal with flight attendants to prevent a two-day strike scheduled to start at midnight tonight. But it won't prevent headaches for many travelers, Stephen Beard reports.

TEXT OF INTERVIEW

BOB MOON: About that canceled flight: Never mind, come back! British Airways has eked out a last-minute deal to head-off a strike by flight attendants, who were upset by a cutback in sick days. Marketplace’s Stephen Beard is with us from London. So, Stephen, does this mean all those flights that had been grounded in advance will be back in service after all?

STEPHEN BEARD: No, very unlikely. BA says that it will attempt to reinstate as many of the canceled flights as possible. More than 1,300 in all were canceled, but it’s unlikely it’s going to get all or indeed many of these flights in the air.

MOON: Yeah they canceled these flights as early as last week so I wouldn’t imagine that there are many passengers left for these flights.

BEARD: No, in fact as I understand it, most of the 154,000 BA passengers who were scheduled to fly have either rebooked or they’ve asked for their money back. So if BA does get many of its planes in the air tomorrow, they’re unlikely to be full at the very least. In fact they’re likely to be rather empty.

MOON: We’ll be watching this. Stephen Beard in London, thank you.

BEARD: OK Bob.

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