The Unite union has warned that Heathrow faces refuelling delays later this week as workers will go on strike after rejecting a pay offer.
It said airlines at the airport, including KLM, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and Delta, are “braced for disruption” because of the action by Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) staff.
The union said the strike by refuellers based at Heathrow will cause delays to hundreds of flights.
The three day strike will begin at 5am on Thursday (July 21) and end at 04:59 on Sunday (July 24).
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “AFS is wholly owned by incredibly wealthy energy companies who are entirely able to provide our members with a decent pay increase. This is yet another example of energy companies boosting profits at the expense of workers.
“Unite will be providing its members at AFS with its unstinting support until the company makes a pay offer which meets members’ expectations and this dispute is resolved.”
It said the workers have not received a pay rise for three years, during which time they have seen their incomes fall by 15.5% in real terms.
AFS had made an offer of a 10% increase but this was rejected by members “as it did not meet their expectations”, said the union.
Unite regional officer Kevin Hall said: “The strike action will cause severe disruption and delays at Heathrow but this dispute is entirely of AFS’ own making. It initially refused to enter into negotiations and only belatedly made an offer which workers judged entirely unacceptable.
“Even at the 11th hour, strike action could be avoided if AFS made a substantially improved offer. The clock is ticking for AFS.”