In anticipation of upcoming ground handler strikes, travelers using London Gatwick Airport (LGW) have been advised to prepare for delays and cancellations.
At the important United Kingdom hub, some 1,000 employees will hold two walkouts: one from July 28 to August 1 and another from August 4 to August 8. The strikes will start at the start of the British school break.
During the strike, Gatwick Airport is anticipated to run an average of 441 departures per day, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The workers' union, Unite the Union, warned that "severe delays, disruption, and cancellations" will likely occur on flights operated by a number of airlines, including British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, Tui Airways, and Wizz Air.
Four ground handler businesses' employees will participate in the extensive strike: ASC Cargo Handling, Menzies Aviation, Gatwick Ground Services, and DHL Services Limited.
Dominic Rothwell, the regional officer for Unite, stated that "strike action will inevitably result in significant delays, disruptions, and cancellations across Gatwick's operations." However, Rothwell added that the disagreement was primarily the fault of the companies involved. They had every chance to offer our members a reasonable salary, but they opted not to.
Since January, according to the union, talks have been ongoing with each of the companies. To stop the strikes, no deal has been reached as of yet.
According to Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, "Our members at Gatwick Airport undertake incredibly demanding roles and are essential to keeping the airport and airlines operating, yet their employers somehow think it is acceptable to pay them a pittance."
The most recent election results are known to us, according to a Gatwick Airport representative. "London Gatwick will support the affected airlines' contingency plans to make sure that as many flights as possible run on schedule," says the airport, which has contracts with the affected third-party ground handling and check-in firms.
The Sussex airport will be further burdened by this most recent strike announcement after EasyJet abruptly canceled 1,700 summer flights last week owing to air traffic control delays.
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, also known as Eurocontrol, issued a warning earlier this month about its own mass walkouts, which may put up to a third of flights into and out of the continent this summer at jeopardy. The dates of any upcoming Eurocontrol strikes have not yet been made public.