British Airways and replace them with agency staff; it is estimated that the strike cost British Airways £30 million and caused disruption to 100,000 passengers. In October 2006, BA became involved in a civil rights dispute when a Christian employee was forbidden to wear a necklace bearing the cross, a religious symbol. BA's practice of forbidding such symbols has been publicly questioned by British politicians such as the former Home Secretary John Reid and the former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Relations have been turbulent between BA and Unite. In 2007, cabin crew threatened strike action over salary changes to be imposed by
History of British Airways was feared that aircraft could be damaged or could even crash due to engine ingestion of volcanic ash, as had famously troubled British Airways Flight 9 in 1982. This affected all airlines operating within British airspace, leading to strong objections from companies such as Ryanair. Flights progressively restarted as the ash levels declined. On 4 October 2010, to celebrate the Boeing 757 fleet's retirement after 27 years, British Airways unveiled one of the 757s (G-CPET) in a "retro" Negus & Negus livery. This aircraft conducted its last passenger flight on 6 November 2010, the proceeds of which went to the