Heathrow faces flight disruptions as ground workers plan strike

Airport in London has been hit by a wave of strike action as it tries to bounce back from Covid travel restrictions

Ground staff gather at a picket near Heathrow's Terminal 2 in November. Getty Images

Passengers have been warned that they face disruptions to flights at Heathrow as workers prepare to go on strike.

Ground handlers employed by a private contractor at the West London airport are set to walk out amid a row over pay.

About 350 members of the trade union Unite working for Menzies plan to walk out for 72 hours from 4am on Friday, December 16.

The action will lead to some flight disruptions, the union said.

Heathrow has been dogged by problems since the Covid pandemic struck, resulting in huge queues, lost baggage and cancelled flights. Last month, the airport was told by Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (Iata) to get its act together and address a litany of problems.

Trade union general secretary Sharon Graham called on employer Menzies "to have a long, hard look at itself".

“This is a highly lucrative company, which has made a fair pay offer to one group of its workers but isn’t prepared to make a similar offer to its ground handlers," she said.

“Unite is entirely dedicated to defending its members’ jobs, pay and conditions.

“Our members at Menzies will continue to receive the union’s complete support.”

Unite said the ground handlers were offered a flat rate increase — which the union branded a real-terms pay cut.

Heathrow last month won back its crown as Europe’s busiest airport after attracting 5.8 million passengers between July and September. The figure was more than that recorded by airports in rival cities such as Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

A Heathrow spokesman said: “We are aware of industrial action proposed by Menzies colleagues from December 16-18 .

“We encourage airport partners who would be affected to continue with their contingency planning and we will support them to minimise the impact on passengers, should the strike go ahead.”

Menzies workers walked out in November but caused little disruption.

Decades of flight: Heathrow through the years — in pictures

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  Heathrow Airport in London, the UK's busiest, has been a travel hub for decades. Here The National takes a look back at Heathrow through the years. All photos: Getty Images

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  An Airco De Havilland biplane of the British airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, about to leave on the company’s inaugural flight from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome, later known as Heathrow, to Le Bourget, Paris, in August 1919

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  Waterlogged runways at London Airport - Heathrow's original name - one week before it became Britain's main aerial gateway to the US in 1946

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  The new BOAC maintenance headquarters at London Airport circa 1955

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  The air traffic control room at the airport's new terminal in 1955

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  US film star Marilyn Monroe with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, after arriving at the airport in July 1956

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  An aerial view showing the runways in 1958

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  The arrivals and departures board in 1960

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  A new airport gift shop, selling items by Chanel, Wedgwood and Pringle of Scotland, in 1961

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  The Queen's Building and the No. 1 Building Europa at Heathrow in 1965

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  The Beatles leave Heathrow for Salzburg in Austria, to resume filming of the movie Help!, in 1965

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  Passenger terminal gates at Heathrow in 1966

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  Keith Granville, managing director of BOAC, holding up a model of the Boeing 747 jet, with the new aircraft hangars under construction in the background, at Heathrow in 1969

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  An aerial view of Heathrow in 1970

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  Passengers boarding the first BOAC Jumbo Jet 747 used for a commercial flight, from London Heathrow to New York, in 1971

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  Passengers going through the departure lounge at Heathrow in 1973

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  Concorde takes off from Heathrow on her first commercial flight for British Airways in 1976

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  Men at work finalising the Heathrow Central underground station before its opening in 1977

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  Queen Elizabeth II passing though the Tube gates at Heathrow Central station on its opening in 1977

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  An aerial view of Heathrow in 1978

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  Passengers waiting near a departures board in 1979

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  Holidaymakers waiting in the departure lounge at Terminal 3 of Heathrow in 1981

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  British Airways employees protesting at Heathrow in 1984

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  Passengers and staff observe a silence in Heathrow's Terminal One to mark the beginning of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997

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  Rower Steve Redgrave at Heathrow with daughters Sophie and Natalie and son Zak after returning from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games with his gold medal

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  Spectators watch the last Concorde land at Heathrow in 2003

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  Fans surround the coach carrying the England rugby team at Heathrow, as they arrived from Sydney after winning the World Cup in 2003

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  Heathrow's Terminal 2 in 2004

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  Passengers queue to check in at Terminal 1 of Heathrow Airport during the Christmas 2006 and New Year period

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  Passengers wait at Terminal 1 on August 10, 2006, after airport security was raised to critical when a terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US was disrupted by police

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  Planes queueing to take off at Heathrow in 2007

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  The new Terminal 5 at Heathrow in 2008

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  Aircraft at Heathrow Airport in front of the London skyline in 2016

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  Members of Team GB arrive from Rio de Janeiro at Heathrow, after returning from the 2016 Olympics, which saw Great Britain's strongest performance at the Games in over a century

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  A composite photo shows planes taking off from Heathrow in November 2016. Forty-two planes were captured between 10.17am and 11.17am and a montage was created from those single images

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  Items are arranged during an auction preview at Heathrow in 2018. The contents of Terminal 1, which closed in 2015, were being sold

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  An airline passenger wearing a face mask pushes her bags through Heathrow's Terminal 5 during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020

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  British Airways employees welcome Olympians returning from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

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  Travellers wait in a long queue to pass through the security check in 2022