London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

British Airways Heathrow staff back summer strikes over pay

British Airways Heathrow staff back summer strikes over pay

Hundreds of British Airways workers at Heathrow Airport have voted to go on strike over pay.

Unite and GMB union members who are mostly check-in staff backed industrial action on Thursday.

A total of 700 workers are set to strike during the summer holidays, when demand from travellers is expected to be near pre-pandemic levels.

The unions said the action was due to a 10% pay cut imposed during the peak of the pandemic not being reinstated.

Some 500 Unite members recorded a 94.7% vote in favour of industrial action, while 95% of GMB members backed the walkouts.

The strike dates will be confirmed in the coming days.

The proposed action relates to fewer than 50% of British Airways staff based at Heathrow in customer-facing roles only, and there are other customer service workers who have not been balloted.

It is understood that if strikes go ahead, BA, which operates from terminals three and five at Heathrow, has plans to cover staff, including managers potentially dealing with check-ins.

However, there would still be disruption for passengers, especially at terminal five, leading to cancellations, which would be focused on routes with several daily flights.

The GMB claimed that while other British Airways workers have been given a 10% bonus, "the check-in staff have had nothing".

BA said it was "extremely disappointed" with the result of the ballot.

"Despite the extremely challenging environment and losses of more than £4bn, we made an offer of a 10% payment which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues," a statement said.

The airline said it was committed to talks to "find a solution" with unions.

The BBC understands a 10% pay rise has been accepted by other parts of BA's business, including by ground operations, engineering and cabin crew workers, who are also represented by Unite and GMB.

Unite officer Russ Ball accused BA of having "insulted this workforce, slashing pay by 10% to restore it to managers but not to our members".

Mr Ball said the airline had a "short window of opportunity" to up workers' pay to pre-pandemic levels or face walkouts that would "inevitably cause severe disruption".

Meanwhile, Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, said BA had "tried to offer our members crumbs from the table in the form of a 10% one-off bonus payment, but this doesn't cut the mustard".

"It's not too late to save the summer holidays - other BA workers have had their pay cuts reversed, do the same for ground and check in staff and this industrial action can be nipped in the bud," she added.

Downing Street urged both sides "to come together to find a settlement", adding that strike action "would only add to the misery being faced by passengers at airports".

A No 10 spokesman said the government expects BA "to put in place contingency measures to ensure that as little disruption is caused, and that where there is disruption that passengers can be refunded".


This is going to be a difficult summer for British Airways.

IT problems and staff shortages have already hit its operations this year. Now you can add industrial action to the mix.

Check-in staff at Heathrow are set to walk out during the summer peak. The airline will have contingency plans in place, but with systems already under strain, disruption seems inevitable.

The airline insists it wants to work with staff, and that its 10% one-off bonus offer was a prelude to meaningful pay talks. It is still under pressure too - the industry has not fully recovered.

But the problem it's facing is that when the cuts were first imposed, many staff were deeply upset by what they saw as the heavy-handed approach of the airline's management.

And now, it's pretty clear that many workers simply don't trust the word of their managers.

Jeff Payne worked as a BA supervisor at terminal five at Heathrow, but took voluntary redundancy in August 2020 and is now a postman in Surrey.

Mr Payne, who worked for the airline for 24 years, said he had the option to return to BA when international travel restarted, but decided against it when he was offered his old job for less money.

"It was £3,000 a year less than what I was being paid when I left," he said.

"When I left the pay was £23,000 plus shift pay, which is an extra amount you get for starting at irregular hours like 4am. When they offered me my job back it was £20,000 plus shift pay and no guarantee over what shifts we would be put on.

"To be honest it's not worth getting out of bed for. I loved working there and I do miss it."

Mr Payne said he believed BA was a "great company" and its staff cared for passengers, but added its bosses "need to manage it better".


Tens of thousands of passengers have been hit by airport disruption and flight cancellations in recent weeks.

Hundreds of flights across the UK were cancelled during the week of the Platinum Jubilee and school half-term holidays, and concerns have been raised of further travel woes during the summer.

The disruption has been caused by several factors, but staff shortages have left the aviation industry struggling to cope with resurgent demand for overseas travel.

Heathrow Airport has increased its annual passenger forecast once again.

The UK's largest airport says it expects 54.4 million passengers to travel through its terminals, up by nearly nine million on the guidance it gave in December.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×