BA strikes: Will your flight be affected and what should you do if it is cancelled?

Hundreds of check-in and ground staff at Heathrow airport have voted to strike this summer over pay.

A total of 700 workers from British Airways (BA) are set to walk out as the busy holiday season begins.

Unions say that the action is due to a 10 per cent pay cut imposed on them during the pandemic that has not yet been reinstated. The workers are represented by Unite, who recorded a 94.7 per cent vote in favour of the strike, and GMB with 95 per cent of members backing the walkout.

Many GMB members who voted for the industrial action were low paid women, according to the union.

“All our members are asking for - and these are primarily low-paid women - is for BA to reinstate the 10 per cent taken from them during the pandemic,” says a spokesperson for GMB.

BA says it is “extremely disappointed” that the unions have chosen to take this course of action. They claim that “despite the extremely challenging environment and losses of more than £4bn (€4.7bn), we made an offer of a 10 per cent payment which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues.”

GMB points out that the pay of BA bosses has returned to pre-pandemic levels while the one-off 10 per cent bonus for other staff was only for this year. They want the cuts imposed during the pandemic to be reversed permanently.

If BA reverses the pay cuts for ground and check-in staff, “it's not too late to save the summer holidays,” GMB national officer Nadine Houghton told the BBC.

GMB and Unite are now consulting with engineers and call centre staff at Gatwick, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle airports on whether to also take action.

The strikes come as airlines prepare for passenger numbers to rise to pre-pandemic levels during the busy summer season.

No date has been set for the