British Airways pledged that 99.5 per cent of flights would operate as some cabin crew began a 16-day strike on Saturday in a long-running row over pay.

It involves ‘mixed fleet’ staff – working on both long and short-haul flights. The Unite trade union has described wage offers as “poverty pay”.

Although that dispute has largely been resolved, Unite says the walkout is a response to sanctions on members involved in previous industrial action.

It has slammed BA’s decision to lease some crewed planes from Qatar Airways to help ensure passengers reach their destinations.

While the impact on flights is set to be limited, the stand-off is another potential threat to the airline’s image a little over a month after thousands of passengers were stranded by a computer systems outage caused by a 
power surge.

#Solidarity shout out to all BA mixed fleet crew taking 16 days of action over poverty pay from today https://t.co/ltBrEJf9eQ pic.twitter.com/PNpOFJ0aO8— Unite the union (@unitetheunion) 1 juillet 2017

“Customers will take a dim view and a great British brand risks being further tarnished. We call on British Airways to drop the threats and drop the sanctions and resolve this long-running dispute,“ Unite national officer Oliver Richardson said in a statement.

British Airways warned of further consequences for those who went on strike, but said all customers would reach their destinations.

with Reuters