Jefferson Airplane
18th Dec 2014, 13:56
Christmas chaos as check-in staff at Heathrow et al decide to strike from 23 Dec
Thousands hoping to get away for Christmas could face chaos after airport staff voted to walk out for two days from December 23.
Heathrow is expected to bear the brunt of the disruption, as nearly 500 check-in staff and ground crew members plan to strike over pay. Three of Heathrow’s five terminals will be affected, as well as Gatwick and Manchester Airports if the action goes ahead.
The strike could affect check-in desks at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports. But last night, airport and airline bosses insisted they would cope. Heathrow said it had contingency plans in place to ‘minimise disruption for passengers’ and did not want to ‘raise unnecessary alarm’.
The Unite union, which is behind the strike, said its members who work for air services provider Dnata at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester had voted by more than four to one in favour of the action.
Dnata’s main customers include Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines and Qantas Airways. The union said the strike was in protest at an imposed 2.2 per cent pay increase at a time when supervisors were being granted a rise of 4.5 per cent. It added that the walkout ‘would have an impact’ on air travellers, but that the extent of the chaos would depend on contingency plans put in place by management.
Unite union which represents around a quarter of the 1,900 Dnata staff who carry out check-in, ground crew and cargo duties at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airports, has called for peace talks to avoid disruption at airports on December 23 and 24.
At Heathrow, the striking staff work in Terminals 2, 3 and 4. The walkout will not affect Terminal 5, where British Airways is based. Heathrow said Terminals 2, 3 and 4 handle around 45 per cent of the 1,300 flights and up to 200,000 passengers it processes each day. Turnout among the 460 Unite members eligible to vote was just 45 per cent. Of those who voted, some 83 per cent supported the strike ‘if the company continued to refuse to negotiate’.
Unite said it was not its intention to wreck Christmas for families, but simply to get the firm around the negotiating table.
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said: ‘We are being kept informed of the situation. Should the strike action take place, we are confident that Dnata will have contingency plans to keep disruption to passengers to a minimum.’
Five million Christmas travellers are set to pass through UK airports in the next week and Emirates, which runs up to half a dozen flights a day from Heathrow, said: ‘At this time, Emirates does not expect any changes to its current flight schedule.’
A Heathrow spokesman said it would have extra staff on hand, adding: ‘Passengers should allow plenty of time for travelling through the airport and speak to their airline if they have any concerns.’
Gatwick confirmed that as Dnata have only a small operation at the airport, no passengers would be affected if the strike goes ahead. A spokesman for Dnata said contingency plans to help passengers were being implemented, adding: ‘Unite members are a minority of our team in the UK.’
Thousands hoping to get away for Christmas could face chaos after airport staff voted to walk out for two days from December 23.
Heathrow is expected to bear the brunt of the disruption, as nearly 500 check-in staff and ground crew members plan to strike over pay. Three of Heathrow’s five terminals will be affected, as well as Gatwick and Manchester Airports if the action goes ahead.
The strike could affect check-in desks at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports. But last night, airport and airline bosses insisted they would cope. Heathrow said it had contingency plans in place to ‘minimise disruption for passengers’ and did not want to ‘raise unnecessary alarm’.
The Unite union, which is behind the strike, said its members who work for air services provider Dnata at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester had voted by more than four to one in favour of the action.
Dnata’s main customers include Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines and Qantas Airways. The union said the strike was in protest at an imposed 2.2 per cent pay increase at a time when supervisors were being granted a rise of 4.5 per cent. It added that the walkout ‘would have an impact’ on air travellers, but that the extent of the chaos would depend on contingency plans put in place by management.
Unite union which represents around a quarter of the 1,900 Dnata staff who carry out check-in, ground crew and cargo duties at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airports, has called for peace talks to avoid disruption at airports on December 23 and 24.
At Heathrow, the striking staff work in Terminals 2, 3 and 4. The walkout will not affect Terminal 5, where British Airways is based. Heathrow said Terminals 2, 3 and 4 handle around 45 per cent of the 1,300 flights and up to 200,000 passengers it processes each day. Turnout among the 460 Unite members eligible to vote was just 45 per cent. Of those who voted, some 83 per cent supported the strike ‘if the company continued to refuse to negotiate’.
Unite said it was not its intention to wreck Christmas for families, but simply to get the firm around the negotiating table.
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said: ‘We are being kept informed of the situation. Should the strike action take place, we are confident that Dnata will have contingency plans to keep disruption to passengers to a minimum.’
Five million Christmas travellers are set to pass through UK airports in the next week and Emirates, which runs up to half a dozen flights a day from Heathrow, said: ‘At this time, Emirates does not expect any changes to its current flight schedule.’
A Heathrow spokesman said it would have extra staff on hand, adding: ‘Passengers should allow plenty of time for travelling through the airport and speak to their airline if they have any concerns.’
Gatwick confirmed that as Dnata have only a small operation at the airport, no passengers would be affected if the strike goes ahead. A spokesman for Dnata said contingency plans to help passengers were being implemented, adding: ‘Unite members are a minority of our team in the UK.’