But according to the merger memorandum signed in November, Iberia can call off the wedding if BA cannot reach a satisfactory agreement with the trustees of its two pension funds.
The airline argued that Unite had not polled its members correctly: some votes were recorded from people no longer employed by BA, and the call for industrial action did not specify the intention to strike for 12 consecutive days precisely at Christmas.
Now that BA has realized that an increasing number of its customers are eschewing shop front staff and call centers for the ease of online booking, the airline is closing the shutters on 17 of its U.K. Travel Shops and a Belfast-based customer call center.