British Airways cancels hundreds of flights as pilots strike

LONDON : British Airways canceled hundreds of flights as chances dwindled for a breakthrough that would avert the first pilots’ strike in decades.

After the weekend yielded little progress toward a resolution of the pay dispute, a British Airways spokeswoman said Sunday that the airline had canceled “the vast majority” of its 850 daily, round-trip flights on Monday and Tuesday.

The disruptions will affect mainly London, where BA operates from its hub at Heathrow airport and also Gatwick. The outages will also extend to other locales such as Edinburgh, though London City, popular with business travelers, won’t be affected as those flights are operated BA’s CityFlyer affiliate.