IAG profits to take €215m hit from BA pilots' strike
Airline operator IAG said it expected a €215m (£188.7m) fall in 2019 full year operating profit before exceptional items as a result of the British Airways pilots' strike in September.
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IAG reported a profit of €3.49bn in 2018. It estimated the financial impact of the strikes to be €137m, with a further €33m hit from threatened strikes by Heathrow Airport employees.
Passenger unit revenue was expected to be slightly down at constant currency, compared to flat guidance previously, and non-fuel unit costs were expected to improve at constant currency, unchanged from previous guidance.
Fourth quarter capacity growth was now expected to be about 2%, 1.2 points below previous guidance, and full year capacity growth around 4%, down from 5%.
The company said the dispute over pay remained unresolved, with its offer of an 11.5% pay increase over three years still standing. "Clearly any further industrial action will additionally impact IAG's full year 2019 operating profit," the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The industrial action led to an initial cancellation of 4,521 flights over a period of seven days, IAG said, with 2,196 reinstated. BA also introduced flexible commercial policies on 4,070 flights not directly affected by the industrial action which allowed customers to re-book flights or receive a refund.