Summer pilot strike threat at Virgin

Pilots at Virgin are threatening the carrier’s first-ever pilots strike.

Travel Insurance News - 19/05/2011

<< Government to confront unions over rail operating costs | Travel News | New Iceland volcano threat for flights >>

No sooner does it look like the long-running industrial dispute at British Airways could be over than a new risk of travel disruption has appeared. Pilots at Virgin Atlantic could take industrial action that would see the transatlantic carrier’s first-ever strike by pilots causing havoc this summer on routes serving some of the most popular destinations for British holidaymakers.

As many as 750 pilots could join the strike at Virgin. Summer holiday travel to cities like New York, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles could be hit.

The news is not going to be greeted with pleasure by British travellers, as it risks ruining plans for summer breaks at popular tourism destinations like Florida’s Disneyworld and California’s Disneyland.

According to the pilots union, the British Airline Pilots’ Association, or BALPA, Virgin pilots are upset about the offered pay increase of four per cent. For three years, pilots’ pay has been frozen at Virgin, where they earn £110,000 per year.

Pilots will be balloted by the union starting 24 May. The process will be concluded four weeks later, on 21 June.

If the proposed industrial action is supported by pilots, the union will then have to provide one week’s notice. Union leaders say strike action is scheduled for July.

The union says its members will vote on whether they want to take industrial action, after the airline and the union failed to agree on what the union calls an ‘overdue’ agreement on pay and conditions.

<< Government to confront unions over rail operating costs | Travel News | New Iceland volcano threat for flights >>