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
British Airways seats. The Club World cabins are all configured in a similar design on widebody aircraft with aisle seats facing forwards, while middle seats and window seats face backwards (British Airways is one of only five carriers with backwards facing Business class seats; American Airlines, Etihad Airways, United Airlines and Qatar Airways are the others). On mid-haul routes operated by Airbus A321s, an alternating 1:2 / 2:1 configuration of 23 seats is used in the front section of the aircraft. "World Traveller Plus" is the premium economy class cabin provided on all A380, B747, B777, and B787 aircraft. This cabin offers