After just being able to stop a Christmas strike threat, it seems that British Airways is once again going to have to deal with the possibility of a strike. This is because plans for a February strike could already be gearing up due to a New Year ballot.

The Unite union is currently updating its membership list of cabin crew to ensure that the next strike ballot, which could take place as soon as the end of next month, is not ruled unlawful. Just earlier in the month, the High Court granted British Airways an injunction, because staff who had accepted voluntary redundancies had voted in the strike ballot. Overall, this means that people that no longer even worked for British Airways were voting for a strike.

After the courts stepped in, the 12-day strike over Christmas and the New Year was called off. It will now take a month to organize another ballot. If crew members vote for a walkout, then Unite is obliged to give British Airways a seven day notice for industrial action.

Thus, given the time line, the earliest that another strike could take place would be mid to late February. The ruling by the courts did refer to the length of the planned strike, means that it is very unlikely that the union will choose another 12-day walkout. The courts also noted the time of year that the strike was planned for, which means that it is also very unlikely that the union will choose to do another strike over a big holiday, which kind of rules out a strike happening over any school holidays or Easter.