Holidaymakers face a new wave of strike action bringing more airport travel woes amid the peak summer period. Aircraft refuelling workers at Heathrow Airport have voted to walkout in a pay dispute with strikes planned to coincide with the main school holidays.
Staff employed by Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) will commence a 72-hour walkout from 5am on July 21 until 4.59am on July 24 - causing "considerable disruption and delays," union Unite has claimed. More than 70 leading airlines rely on the company for refuelling at the UK's biggest airport.
These include Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, United, SAS, Air France, Emirates, Delta, JAL, KLM and Singapore Airlines. British Airways will escape the strike action because its planes are refuelled from a separate source.
Unite union regional officer Kevin Hall warned: “Strike action will inevitably cause considerable disruption across Heathrow but this strike is entirely of AFS’s own making. Even now strike action and the resulting disruption can be avoided if AFS returns to the negotiating table and makes an offer that meets our member’ expectations.”
British Airways flights has already announced it is cancelling more than 650 flights affecting as many as 105,000 passengers scheduled to fly from Heathrow and Gatwick this month in a bid to avoid further travel dispute and delays. More cancellations are expected to be confirmed later this week.
Travel expert Paul Charles of The PC Agency, said travellers faced continuing disruption. He commented: "Sadly for some it will be a summer of stress - for consumers facing cancelled flights; for airport and airline workers trying to deliver quality service; and stress on baggage systems creaking at the seams."
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
