It is being reported that up to 15 crew members of a British Airways aircraft have been placed on leave by the carrier for comments and emails made on Facebook. The emails, which included information regarding a list of pilots who were attempting to prevent a strike from happening, have revealed names of up to 50 pilots who said they would gladly work as stewards should a strike take place over the holidays.

The union representation cabin crews for the airline has called out BA stating that the airline has insufficient proof to suspend these individuals over Facebook emails. BA, however, has responded by asking for 32 more names of cabin crew members believed to be affiliated with the Facebook discussion group.

The suspension comes in the midst of a new ballot being cast over whether or not the union members will take industrial action against the airline for recent changes in working conditions. Originally, a vote was cast before Christmas, but this was proven to be illegal b the High Court as several crew members already made redundant by the airline had cast votes as well.

Had the vote been upheld, crew members would have taken strike action over the Christmas holidays. The vote is again uncertain as just recently the carrier announced it would revoke flight privileges for any crew members participating in strikes against the airline. The suspension began over the weekend after a note posted to Facebook indicated someone had the list of 50 names outing the pilots who would not participate in a strike.