What lies behind the strike that has grounded British Airways

ON A NORMAL Monday morning Terminal 5, Heathrow airport’s busiest, is a hive of activity. Over 100,000 passengers arrive or leave for more than 150 destinations. But on September 9th its departure halls were almost completely abandoned. The only flights taking off were to Cairo, Madrid and Tokyo. The reason was a two-day strike by British Airways (BA) pilots and their union, the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA). The walkout, which grounded almost 1,700 flights due to carry at least 280,000 people, was the first ever pilot strike at BA. BALPA threatens more—on September 27th and then other dates stretching until January. But far from showing the growing clout of pilots’ unions, their battle for better pay exposes their rapidly weakening position.