Due to passenger capacity restrictions put in place by the airport operator, British Airways will prohibit its own employees from using their generous staff travel benefits to fly off on vacation from Heathrow. Heathrow is attempting to fend off a potentially disastrous walkout by thousands of security guards who are demanding a pay raise that keeps up with inflation. Although the airport claims to have backup procedures in place to keep planes running, nobody is really sure how much disruption the strike action may produce.
Airport management has thus asked British Airways to stop selling any new tickets for departures during the first three days of the strike, which is scheduled to start on Friday. The airport will be able to gauge the effects of the widespread strike during that initial period and may decide to raise its capacity limits for the rest of the 10-day strike.
Similar capacity restrictions were put in place at Heathrow last summer when the airport struggled to expand its operations in order to handle the unexpected increase in travel demand. At the time, British Airways chose not to apply the limitations to its own employees, who were still able to take advantage of significantly reduced concessionary travel privileges. In an effort to relieve strain on its hub at Hearthrow’s Terminal 5, where the majority of the striking security guards are employed, British Airways has canceled more than 300 flights during the strike. The walkout won’t disrupt other terminals, but its consequences may spread beyond Terminal 5 and into the rest of the airport. As a result, Heathrow has also requested that other airlines restrict ticket sales throughout the strike.
“Following Heathrow’s requirement for us to reduce the number of passengers traveling during the period of its employees’ proposed strike action, we’ve regrettably had to make a small number of adjustments to our schedule,” the airline said in a statement earlier this week. “Our teams are continuing to work closely with Heathrow to ensure that our customers’ journeys run smoothly,” the statement continued. Security guards at Heathrow are represented by the Unite union, which claims that employees are struggling on “poverty pay.” Sharon Graham, general secretary of the union, criticized an airport salary offer of 10%.