After a day of talks on Wednesday, a package was agreed with the Unite union, which sources said essentially met its demand to restore the 10% pay cut introduced during the pandemic. A one-off bonus payment for 2022 worth 10% of pay was earlier rejected. The offer will now be put to a vote by Unite members, but both sides hope the deal will resolve the immediate dispute. A British Airways spokesman said: “We are very pleased that, after working with the unions, they have decided not to issue dates for industrial action. This is great news for our customers and our people.” Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said: “We welcome the fact that BA has finally listened to the voice of its check-in staff. Unite has repeatedly warned that pay differences at BA were inevitable unless the company took our members’ legitimate grievances seriously.’ The news came a day after BA announced it would cancel another 10,300 flights this summer as labor shortages at airlines and airports continued to put holiday travel at risk. A 72-hour strike over pay by one of four Heathrow refueling companies remains in place for the start of the school holiday period, threatening possible further disruption. Holiday airline Jet2 said on Thursday it would give its staff an 8% pay rise and a £1,000 cost of living payment this year, as it criticized UK airports for being “woefully ill-prepared” for the recovery in travel. summer. Subscribe to the Business Today daily email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter @BusinessDesk Jet2 executive chairman Philip Meeson said the failure of airports to hire staff was inexcusable and was to blame for the chaotic scenes during the holiday periods this year and thousands of flight cancellations. He said most of the 10 UK airports Jet2 operated from were “sadly ill-prepared and inadequately equipped for the volume of customers they could reasonably expect”. Meeson added: “The often appalling customer service of ground handling providers, long queues at security, understaffing and congestion at baggage handling… have contributed to a much poorer experience at the start and end of our customers’ holidays than what they had a right to expect”. It happened, he said, “simply because of the lack of planning, preparedness and reluctance to invest by many airports and associated suppliers.” Another cost of living deal has meanwhile been agreed for the lowest paid workers at NatWest, Unite said. The bank has agreed to give the 17,000 staff who earn less than £32,000 an extra 4% pay rise, according to the union. Unite said it was an important first step and would continue to push for an increase for remaining employees “who also need support in these difficult economic times”.
