UK faces summer of travel chaos as strike threats spread

The travel chaos hitting passengers in the UK is set to widen this summer, after British Airways staff voted to strike during the school holidays and talks to avoid more industrial action on the railway broke up without a deal. Around 700 BA check-in crew at London’s Heathrow airport have agreed to strike in a dispute over pay, with unions promising “severe disruption” timed to coincide with the summer rush to fly abroad. The results of the ballots were announced as Britain’s railways were hit by strikes for the second time in three days, with further industrial action planned for Saturday. The prospect of disruption at the UK’s busiest airport will reignite fears that the country is set for a summer of discontent, evoking memories of the delays and cancellations that hit airports this month. BA expects the strikes to impact roughly half its check-in staff at Heathrow, after both the GMB and Unite unions said 95 per cent of their members had voted to back industrial action. GMB said strike dates would be confirmed in the coming days and were “likely to be during the peak summer holiday period”. Unite, which represents around 500 check-in staff at Heathrow, said it had given BA a “short window” to come back with an improved offer before it set strike dates. It would need to give two weeks’ notice before any action took place. The union is demanding that pay be reinstated to its pre-pandemic level, following a 10 per cent cut imposed by BA when the industry was all but shut down by Covid-19 travel restrictions. Management had already had its pay restored in full, Unite said.<br/>