Bank Holiday travel chaos looms as three-day Heathrow Airport strike called

Flights will be cancelled and passengers hit by travel chaos as unionised airport workers announce a Bank Holiday weekend strike.

Refuelers working for Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) at Heathrow Airport are to take industrial action for 72 hours beginning on Saturday 4 May. The workers say that their employer imposed drastic cuts to the terms and conditions of new staff recruited since January 2024.

Unite claims that AFS is “attacking the most vulnerable new staff in its workplace by offering them reduced pension and sickness benefits.” The potential impact of the industrial action is significant, with AFS workers responsible for refuelling aircraft at Heathrow from 35 different airlines.

These include household names such as Virgin, Delta, Emirates and Air France. Unite has said that staff are “furious at the imposition of a two-tier workforce” and have argued that it represents a potential “race to the bottom” for staff across the company.

Passengers wait in line to check in at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “AFS is behaving appallingly by attacking the T&Cs of new members of staff – those it views as the easiest to intimidate. But Unite will not stand for such bully-boy tactics and we will be backing our members in their fight for improved pensions and sick pay for all staff.”

Unite regional officer Kevin Hall added: “Our members recognise that if they allow this attack on their conditions to take place, before long this will become the norm. Unite won’t allow that to happen and is standing firm with our members on the picket line. AFS will have to answer directly to the airlines and passengers for the disruption caused by their unmerited actions.”

May Bank Holiday weekend is one of the busier travelling weekends of the year. In May 2023, Heathrow saw 6.7 million passengers pass through it.

The full list of airlines which AFS workers at Heathrow refuel – and which may be impacted therefore by the strike – is as follows:

Air Canada, American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Japan Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, Elal, Singapore Airlines, Korean Airlines, Air France, Klm, Ethiopian Airlines, Jet Blue, Lot (Polish), Royal Air Maroc, Middle East Airlines, Sas (Scandinavian), Tap Air Portugal, Malta Airlines, Dhl, Aero Mexico, Latam Airlines, Air India, Logan Air, Bulgarian, Airlines, Uzbekistan, China Airlines, Air Mauritius, Turkmenistan, Avianca, Asiana, Saudi, Tianjin Airlines, Beijing Capital And Rwanda Air.

Ahead of the May 4 strike, Heathrow is due to be hit by another piece of industrial action. Border Force workers at the travel hub have plans to walk out from 29 April to 2 May over proposals to lay off staff.

There is a chance that this will cause major disruption for international flights. A smaller scale ‘work to rule’ strike between 3-18 May could cause further disruption.

Over in Gatwick Airport Dnata catering workers are planning a strike running from 26-29 April, 3-6 May and 10-13 May. Passengers on easyJet and TUI flights departing from the travel hub may be unable to buy food aboard their aircraft during the strike period.

AFS and Heathrow Airport have been contacted for comment.

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