Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to cancel three flights a day if cabin crew go ahead with two 48-hour strikes in January, appearing ready to tough out the first stoppages in its history.
More than 3,000 staff are due to strike on January 9-10 and January 16-17 following a ballot, after rejecting the airline’s pay offer.
Virgin would cancel an outbound flight to New York, return to Chicago and return to Boston on January 9, and return to New York, return to Chicago and return to Boston on January 10.
It plans to cancel a flight to New York, return to Chicago and return to Nairobi on both January 16 and 17, as well as an inbound service from New York on January 11 and 18.
The carrier said it would operate all other services normally and passengers booked on affected flights would be offered a full refund.
Representatives of cabin crew in the union Unite have called on the company to negotiate.