UK airline British Airways has said that in the coming Easter holiday it will be cancelling close to 30 flights daily at the London Heathrow Airport.
This decision is due to planned strike action by Airport security personnel during the period.
Around 1,400 security staff working at Terminal 5, the main terminal for the UK’s national airline, are set to go on strike in the 10 days from March 31 to express grievances over low pay.
The airline has informed the public that it will relieve its flight schedule by five per cent during the 10-day strike.
This means that up to 300 flights will experience cancellations during the hectic holiday period.
Some other airlines that will be travelling from Heathrow Airport may also be affected.
The strike action by Heathrow security staff is as a result of a wage tussle between Unite Union workers and the airport management (Heathrow Airports Limited), where Unite is refusing to accept a 10 percent wage increase from the management in claims that its workers are being paid “poverty wages”.
According to Unite union secretary general Sharon Graham, the airport management staff are placed on “huge salaries”, yet Unite members are “unable to make ends meet due to low wages.”
The airport management disputes this assertion and claims that the wage offer it has made to the union is a good one.
A security staff at Heathrow Airport earns about £24,000 a year. Heathrow Airports Limited is offering to increase this to £27,754 if the union is willing to accept the offer.
Unfortunately, the union has disagreed.
In a statement, British Airways has expressed regret over the alterations that have had to be made to the flight schedules.
“We’ve apologised to customers whose travel plans have been affected and have offered them a range of options, including rebooking onto a new flight with us or another airline, or requesting a full refund,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
While Unite regional coordinating officer Wayne King asserts that the planned strike action will cause “huge disruption and delays” at the Airport throughout the Easter holidays, Heathrow Airport management have confirmed plans to make sure that the airport stays up and running.
In a statement, the Airport management said that the airport will remain “open and operational despite unnecessary threats of strike action by Unite.”
The union only warned intending travellers about the possibility of long queues during the period.
