if an airline is balloting cabin crew in july how long does it take before strike action commences?

A pedant replies...

Airlines don't ballot staff for strike action - unions ballot members.

Now first of all, assuming that a union ballots its members, they cannot do anything until

a) the ballot has taken place and the results counted

and

b) the result of the ballot indicates that a majority of those who voted are in favour of strike action.

However, if the percentage in favour of action is not a majority of the union members, the union will be unwise to proceed with strike action. So if only 70% of the membership vote and of that 60% are in favour of strike action this would mean that only 42% of the membership are in favour of striking - not exactly a mandate.

Assuming that the union has a mandate from members, they then need to give the company 7 days notice of any planned strike dates. What normally happens in the airline business is that the unions will look to hold strike days at the end of July to coincide with the start of the school holidays or August Bank Holiday as this will inconvenience most people.

I think the union will set a date where if the negotiations fail, they will tell the union members to strike. I think it can range anywhere from 1 week to 1 month.

if you're talking about Monarch then take it from me they wont strike. Its just the unions butting their noses in again.