I wonder how the days were picked, BAA have gone for having a few long weekends and we go for mid week.
I strongly doubt there was any collusion about the strike dates between the two groups, it would be illegal. The BAA strike represents serious bad news for Virgin strikers. A Virgin strike would be a bombshell for the managers but the BAA strike will be a thermonuclear weapon. The complete cancellation of the airlines flying program for 24 hours that the BAA strke would cause would more than mask the disruption caused by a Virgin strike. Virgin crew lose two days pay, the company have already taken the financial hit of a strike and so have nothing to lose.