A union has warned of “inevitable” disruption of flights from Heathrow to the World Cup in Qatar due to a planned three-day strike over pay.
The action by ground handlers will particularly affect Qatar Airways, which has scheduled an additional 10 flights a week during the World Cup, the Unite union warned.
The industrial action is due to start in the early hours of November 18 until early on November 21, leading to disruption, cancellations and delays at Terminals 2, 3 and 4, according to the union.
The tournament takes place from November 20 to December 18 with England and Wales participating.
The dispute involves 700 workers employed by dnata and Menzies carrying out a variety of roles, including ground-handling, airside transport and cargo.
Dnata insisted it had contingency plans in place to minimise disruption.
But Unite regional officer Kevin Hall said: “Strike action will inevitably cause disruption, delays and cancellations to flights throughout Heathrow, with travellers to the World Cup particularly affected.”
He added that the two companies “have had every opportunity to make a fair pay offer but have chosen not to do so”.
Other airlines potentially to be hit by the strike action include Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Emirates, alongside Virgin Atlantic cargo operations only.
Passengers going to the US for the Thanksgiving holiday are also set to be adversely affected.
Both Dnata and Menzies have only been prepared to offer pay cuts “disguised as pay increases,” Unite claimed.
Dnata has offered its workers a 5% increase, while the offers for Menzies workers vary between 2% and 6% – all below the real rate of inflation (RPI), which currently stands at 12.6%.
Alex Doisneau, managing director, dnata UK, airport operations, said: “It is disappointing that Unite plans to progress with this costly industrial action, despite our offer to staff of an award which, with previous increases, amounts to a pay rise of 15.5% (20.2% for HGV drivers) since December 2021. This is in line with inflation and amongst the best in the industry.
“We would like to reassure our customers, partners and passengers that we are implementing contingency plans to minimise disruption to our operations.
“The union’s proposition is unrealistic and doesn’t reflect the challenging economic environment we find ourselves in as a business.
“Despite our sustained commitment to the UK and its communities, the impact of the pandemic, rapid inflation and other local market conditions mean that our UK airport operations business is now making a financial loss each month.
“The increase in salary suggested by Unite is irresponsible and would undoubtedly impact our business’ ability to operate in the best interest of our workforce in the long term.
“Our offer has been overwhelmingly accepted by other staff at the airport and we remain committed to reaching a meaningful and mutually acceptable agreement for all parties.”
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “We’re aware of planned strike action among dnata cargo ground handling staff at London Heathrow, scheduled for 18-20 November.
“Dnata provide support to our cargo operation, however passenger services will not be affected by this strike.
“Dnata is keeping us up to date on developments and with mitigations in place, we anticipate limited impact to our cargo operations. We’ll update our cargo customers directly in the coming days with further information.”