BRITISH Airways have been slammed for cancelling flights more than 14 days before the pilot strike later this month instead of striking a deal.
British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) have called the airline "irresponsible and inconsiderate" for the early flight cancellations.
BALPA have also accused the airline of cancelled early to avoid paying out compensation.
Passengers are only eligible for compensation if they have less than two weeks notice, according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Twitter users were furious about their cancellations more than 14 days before the strike.
One man wrote: "As you left it to the last possible moment to say my 27/9 flight is cancelled (to avoid paying extra compensation if cancel within 14 days) & as my date is fixed I've had to pay an extra £350 to fly with someone else as few options left. Done with BA! #BAstrike."
Linda Feeney said: "@British_Airways having today received cancellation of my BA flight booked for 27 Sep (which has ****ed up my attendance at friend’s 50th birthday) I feel I may hurl a large object at the TV at the repeated trailers for 'British Airways 24/7: Access All Areas'."
Danny said their honeymoon was "ruined" after their flight was cancelled and they were offered no compensation.
In a statement, BALPA said: "We understand that BA has started cancelling its operations on the 27th of September today outside of the 14 day window to avoid having to compensate affected passengers.
"BALPA set a gap between the first and second periods of strike action to give BA time to work with us to settle this dispute with their pilots.
"We had today been exchanging new ideas to do that via ACAS and so it irresponsible and inconsiderate to its customers that BA has pulled out and decided to start cancelling flights now, just to save money on compensation.
"BA did not respond to our latest proposals before cancelling these flights."
Can I get a refund or compensation if my flight has been cancelled?
According to the CAA: "If you received seven to 14 days' notice of the cancellation, you can claim compensation based on the timings of the alternative flight."
Therefore passengers who have had their flight cancelled more than 14 days before their flight may not be eligible for compensation.
If your flight is cancelled with less than two weeks notice then you could claim up to £536.
If you're offered an alternative flight then you are entitled to free meals and refreshments which are appropriate to the delay.
You should also get free hotel accommodation and transfer if there's an overnight stay.
If you booked through a travel company they are also liable to arranging your travel.
They added: "Passengers who will be affected by these cancellations should know that we have given BA multiple opportunities to work with us so we could call off this action."
However, a British Airways spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: "We know that our customers need as much certainty and notice as possible.
"We are contacting all those affected to offer them a full refund or a rebook on an alternative date, destination or airline."
British Airways passengers had their flights cancelled earlier this week, with 200,000 travellers affected on September 9 and 10.
Flights were also affected the following day due to pilots, crew and aircraft being in the wrong place after the cancellations.
According to the Independent, a further 100,000 passengers on 900 flights could be affected on the 27th, due to the cancellations as well as a knock-on affect to services the following day.
Further strikes have been threatened in November, with British Airways pilots plotting a ten-day mega strike that would cost £400million and "break" the airline.
BA pilots are currently on strike due to a pay dispute with the airline, refusing an 11.5 per cent pay rise.
The strikes are thought to be costing British Airways approximately £40 million a day, according to reports.
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