With strikes scheduled at several of the United Kingdom's major airports this month, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed that soldiers have been arriving at Heathrow and Gatwick to provide cover. Armed forces have been training to fill passport control roles over the festive period.
Across the nation
On Wednesday, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) shared that following a rejection of a 2% pay rise offer, Border Force officers will strike between December 23rd and 26th and December 28th and 31st. The affected airports include the two busy London hubs, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Manchester. The Port of Newhaven in East Sussex is also impacted.
More than two million seats are scheduled during the period between December 23rd and 31st. Heathrow accounts for around half these seats amid the 4,724 arrivals scheduled. Gatwick will have nearly 500,000 seats with its 2,476 arrivals.
Even in normal conditions, there can be considerable challenges in processing passengers at immigration. Thus, it’s crucial that these sites are equipped to handle the influx of passengers later this month.
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Gearing up
Over the last few years, there have been spells of lengthy queues at London's airports. For instance, as restrictions began to ease following the pandemic, there were reports of hours-long queues at Heathrow amid Border Force staff shortages.
With even more passenger activity across the industry, especially heading up to Christmas, airports are working hard to ensure they can handle the difficulties.
As reported by ITV News earlier this week, Heathrow highlighted that the airport’s priority is to ensure that passengers pass through the border safely and swiftly as possible. A spokesperson said:
“We are working closely with airlines and Border Force on mitigation plans for potential strike action by Border Force officers and these plans will now be implemented for the notified days. The Home Office advises that immigration and customs checks may take longer during peak times on strike days, and Heathrow will support Border Force to minimise these impacts with the aim of processing passengers through the border as efficiently as possible.”
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Significant impact
With approximately 75% of passport control employees being part of the PCS union, the majority of staff are set to strike. Therefore, up to 600 members of the armed forces and 700 civil servants have been training to support personnel at airports ahead of the scheduled strike.
Notably, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak this week vowed to implement tough measures to prevent unions from causing major disruption amid widespread strikes across the transport sector. He said he wants to protect the livelihoods of the public if union management continues "to be unreasonable." Several Christmas period flights may be canceled as a result of the strikes, adding to existing scheduling woes airlines have faced amid the ever-changing conditions of the pandemic.
What are your thoughts about these scheduled strikes across UK airports? What do you make of the overall situation? Let us know what you think in the comment section.
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London Heathrow Airport
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- LHR-EGLL
- Country:
- United Kingdom
- CEO:
- John Holland-Kaye
- Passenger Count :
- 19,392,178 (2021)
- Runways :
- 09L/27R - 3,902m (12,802ft) | 09R/27L - 3,660m (12,008ft)
- Terminals:
- Terminal 2 | Terminal 3 | Terminal 4 | Terminal 5
-
London Gatwick Airport
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- LGW/EGKK
- Country:
- United Kingdom
- CEO:
- Stewart Wingate
- Passenger Count :
- 6,260,000 (2021)
- Runways :
- 08L/26R - 2,565m (8,415ft) | 08R/26L - 3,316m (10,879ft)
- Terminals:
- North Terminal | South Terminal
