British Airways will cancel about 32 flights per day to and from Heathrow Airport as the Easter weekend begins.
The move is a result of a planned 10-day strike by 1,400 Heathrow security staff belonging to the Unite union over pay. BA stated that it has provided impacted consumers a variety of choices.
Heathrow says contingency procedures will be implemented to maintain “regular operations.”
Employees at Terminal 5, which is utilized by British Airways, and cargo checkers will participate in the protest. The strike is scheduled to begin on 31 March and conclude on 9 April. Last week’s discussions failed to prevent the action.
The airport has instructed BA to shorten its schedule by 5% on those days, and ticket sales have ceased. The airline stated in a statement, “We’ve had to make a few minor alterations to our flight itinerary.
We apologized to customers whose travel plans were disrupted and provided them with a variety of choices, such as rebooking with us or another airline or demanding a full refund.
A Heathrow representative stated, “We will not allow these pointless strikes to disrupt our guests’ well-earned vacations.”
Over the Easter holiday, the airport will deploy 1,000 more employees and its management team to provide support to travelers at the terminals.
It encouraged travellers to guarantee a smooth departure by checking their flight status before traveling to the airport and by having their liquids and electronic devices ready for security.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, stated, “Due to Heathrow’s poor salaries, our members simply cannot make ends meet. They are compelled to strike due to necessity, not greed.”
Heathrow has reportedly promised a 10% wage increase. Many airlines have already canceled flights this year due to strike action in other countries, particularly France. The German strike on Monday has also resulted in flight disruptions.
