el344

from a travel agent notification:

"Please note that the British Airport Authority are now considering strike action over the holiday period, starting on 27 December, this will of course affect all flights departing and arriving into all UK airports. A decision will not be confirmed until after the ballot has taken place on 20th December."

and http://tinyurl.com/2kcurq

Major bummer since my daughter is supposed to be coming in from London that day ...

el

flanneruk

BAA plc (there's no such entity as "the British Airport Authority": Where do you think we are: some country like America where governments still own everything?) most certainly isn't considering a strike. Does General Motors or CNN consider going on strike?

SOME BAA workers are thinking about it. It won't affect "all UK airports" for the excellent reason that BAA operate only seven of the dozens of UK airports.

I really hope you don't rely on this travel agent for any serious information, like what time your plane's taking off or how much you owe them.

You'd be doing us all a real favour if you published the name of this bunch of plonkers, so we can all avoid doing business with them.

Now for the strike. Mostly, strike ballots return the answer "no": most ballots that return the answer "yes" don't result in a strike. They're a method of giving negotiators more levers to pull against the employer.

In your shoes, I'd worry about the real truth that you're dealing with a hopelessly ignorant travel agent. with a distressing ability to pass on duff information. The outside possibilty there might be a strike I'd leave till Dec 26.

NeoPatrick

flanneruk, you would be wise to contact Wikpedia (and a lot of other sources) and explain to them that they are wrong in their definitions and explanations of the history of BAA (British Airport Authority). Apparently you are the only one who knows that "there's no such entity as the British Airport Authority". Better wise them up.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAA_Limited

BTilke

FlUK correctly notes: "It won't affect 'all UK airports' for the excellent reason that BAA operate only seven of the dozens of UK airports."

And fortunately, those seven airports are just tiny local ones like Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted and handle only 150 million passengers a year.

Lovejoy

I went to the "BAA" website and I could find no mention of a "British Airport Authority." They only call themselves,

BAA

or

BAA Limited

Specifically here is what they say about the entity:

BAA Limited is a private limited company registered in England under Company Number 01970855. BAA Limited's registered office is 130 Wilton Road, London SW1V 9LQ. BAA Limited's VAT registration number is GB 653 094.

So perhaps flanneruk is correct.

Its a big mistake to take Wikipedia as gospel.

el344

flanneruk, I did not pass this along until I had verified in in the Guardian -- the url I included with my original post. Of course, you may consider the Guardian "hopelessly ignorant ... with a distressing ability to pass on duff information" as well.

el

el344

Lovejoy, as I recall, they stopped being the British Airport Authority in the mid 80s, when they became a private company.

el

NeoPatrick

take Wikpedia as gospel?

Lovejoy, did you bother to read the link I provided? If so your post would make no sense. It is true that BAA no longer OFFICIALLY stands for British Airport Authority although that is clearly where the BAA came from, but it also clearly says that it is generally known and referred to by the public and media by that name, since that IS what BAA originally stood for.

That's almost like picking at the use of a name saying it doesn't exist because the poster failed to put the "INC." or "Limited" after the name. Or maybe we should point out that there is no country called USA. There is a United States of America, but since MOST people have come to use USA to mean that, why grouse at the use of it or declare that there is no such entity? Here with BAA we have just the opposite. The initials have become official rather than the actual spelled out name, but it is generally known what those letters stand for and where they came from.

NeoPatrick

And I'm not sure how it works in the UK compared to here. But I agree that the tossing out of "only 7 of the dozens of UK airports" as if such a thing is minor is kind of silly considering WHICH 7 it includes. If Gatwick, Heathrow, Stanstead and 4 others are closed down, I find it hard to imagine that such closure WOULD NOT "affect all flights departing and arriving into UK airports". It doesn't say they won't be operating, but they will be affected. How could they not be? Gee, here in the US, if only LAX is closed down, there is hardly any airport in the country that won't be affected. Close down the major international ones -- let's say JFK, LAX, and O'Hare and you'll see total chaos at every airport. That wouldn't be similar in the UK?

Heimdall

>>Of course, you may consider the Guardian "hopelessly ignorant ... with a distressing ability to pass on duff information" as well.<<

Wasn't that the newspaper that tried to tell the citizens of Ohio how to vote in 2004? As I recall, it backfired on them. ;-)

BTilke

Lovejoy, it was easy to find British Airport Authority on BAA's web site. This is from their history section:
------------
1986: The Airports Act was passed, the Authority was dissolved and all its property, rights and liabilities were passed to a new company, BAA. Back to top

1971 – 75: The British Airports Authority acquires Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow airports.

1966: The British Airports Authority assumes ownership and responsibility for Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Prestwick airports.

1965: Labour minister, Roy Jenkins, introduced the Airports Authority Bill. It was intended to make the nation’s airports more flexible and able to generate profits – while remaining responsible to Parliament. The British Airports Authority was established.

NeoPatrick

Yes. I suppose technically there's no such company as National Cash Register, the company we now know as NCR. Or IBM no longer officially stands for International Business Machines. How about ITT? Do you suppose they still officially include "telegraph" as part of their name? But it doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out what those acronyms stand for --either officially or unofficially.

Pete_R

But IBM is still the same company as Int. business Machines. BAA isn't.

The British Airport Authority was a quasi-governmental thing set up by act of parliament.

BAA Ltd. is a private company owned by a Spanish bank.

Pete_R

But to add, I do agree that:

IF BAA workers vote to strike and IF they actually carry out the strike and IF the strike affects all their airports and IF the strikes are seriously disruptive then there will defiantly be a knock-on affect to other international airport in the UK.

willit

Unless they have sold it on, Naples airport is also run by BAA. I presume the strike (if it happened) will only be in the UK?

Dukey

Children PLEASE..the messenger died five minutes ago.

NeoPatrick

Pete R. check the history of both. Both companies have "evolved" from the old ones, and there have been changes that technically make them not the same. But in both cases anyone with an IQ over 50 knows where the current letters came from and what they always stood for. If either company didn't want the obvious connection to the previous one, how difficult would it be to find three other letters that wouldn't automatically be associated with the company as it existed before. In both cases, the "new company" evolved directly from the previous one.

angy400

Getting back to the strike, is there any indication how long they will strike for?

I need to fly through Heathrow Jan 5th!

LJ

Setting aside the acrimony of some of this (and the need for real information that other posters are seeking-forgive me for yet another distraction!), I just have to thank you all for a trip down memory lane.

My father, uncles and male cousins are all Brits, either still living there or ex-pats. This thread sounds exactly like a family reunion (male side only) of that fractious, argumentative, exasperating, pedantic gang. You have to love the need for the English to get it absolutely correct against all odds...(well, I have to love it, I am related to so many of these amazing seekers after the exactitude of truth!)

Thank you for a wry smile and heres to no strike of any company of any name or pedigree...

Pete_R

No indication yet, but if the ballot is a "yes" they have a 28 day window in which to hold the strike.

And Patrick, if you can't see the difference between a government organisation that runs airports and a private company that's not my problem.