Chaos-stricken Heathrow dealt kerosene blow as refuellers plan to walk out from tomorrow 5am
Heathrow will need to brace itself for further chaos as refuellers are set to go on a three-day strike starting tomorrow.
Around 50 members of the union Unite working for Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) announced the decision yesterday, after they rejected a 10 per cent pay increase.
The walkout will begin at 5am tomorrow and end in the early hours of Sunday.
The strike will impact legacy carriers such as KLM, Emirates and Virgin as AFS is responsible for the refuelling of non-British Airways’ (BA) traffic at the west-London hub.
“AFS is wholly owned by incredibly wealthy energy companies who are entirely able to provide our members with a decent pay increase,” said Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham.
The firm is owned by BP as well as by Total Energies and Valero Energy.
“Unite will be providing its members at AFS with its unstinting support until the company makes a pay offer which meets members’ expectations and this dispute is resolved,” she added.
Heathrow said it was holding talks with airlines over contingency plans, while a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “Our priority is to ensure that our customers can complete their travel plans, regardless of the proposed strikes, with minimal disruption.”
The strike comes at a delicate time for the hub. BA check-in staff at Heathrow will announce tomorrow whether they have accepted a pay increase from the airline.
Ground staff initially called for strike on 23 June after the unions Unite and GMB demanded to reinstate a 10 per cent wage cut taken by members during the pandemic.
The walkout was called off on 7 July after BA made a “vastly improved pay offer.”
Heathrow also made the headlines when it said it would cap daily departing passengers to 100,000 as it could not cope with higher volumes of travellers.
The cap was lambasted by airline customers such as Emirates, who last week accused the hub’s management of being “cavalier” as it refused to comply with the cap, Morning Wire reported.
Willie Walsh – former chief executive of BA’s owner IAG and now at the helm of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – doubled down during the weekend.
The aviation executive told the Mail on Sunday that heads would roll if this year’s chaos is repeated next.
“If we are in the same position next year, then without question people should be fired,” he told the outlet.