It now appears that millions of travelers will have to face having their Christmas travel plans ruined after British Airways’ cabin crew just announced that they voted unanimously in favor of strike action. The walkout will start on December 22^nd, just three days before Christmas, and the staff will not return to work until January 2^nd.

Anyone that is left without a flight, due to the canceled flights by British Airways, will have little hope of being able to find flights with other carriers because of the seasonal rush. The airline itself is now facing its first strike since 1997. More than 12,000 cabin crew are set to walk out over the job losses and changes to work practices that British Airways proposed. This is going to cause chaos for both the airline and passengers during one of the busiest times of the year.

Just last year, the airline carried 1.6 million people over the Christmas break. The industrial action, of course, means the cancellation of flights, thus, wrecking passengers’ travel plans this year. The strike is likely to come as a very bitter financial blow to the already cash strapped British Airways.

When flights are canceled, the airline would normally offer a refund on an alternative date or a chance for the customer to rebook on a different flight. However, the latter option will prove a mad chase for the last few available seats at a peak of the holiday period.

Now even if the cabin crew stops short of an all out strike, any industrial action will still cause considerable disruption to the airline’s operations. Many crew members would be in the wrong place, which would in turn trigger a wave of further cancellations anyway.