Heathrow's refuelling workers call off strike to ponder improved pay offer

LONDON • Refuelling workers at London's Heathrow airport called off a strike that was set to begin yesterday and had threatened to cause further disruptions at the UK travel hub.

The walkout was suspended after Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) made a "sustainably improved (pay) offer", the Unite union said in a statement on Wednesday.

The roughly 50 employees involved will now be given time to consider the proposal, which came about in talks facilitated by a conciliation service, the group said.

AFS is a joint venture among fuel companies BP, TotalEnergies, Q8 Aviation and Valero Energy, and supplies fuel to more than 70 airlines, including American Airlines Group, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines Holdings and Emirates, according to the union.

The threatened action by refuelling workers was one of a number of labour disputes that have contributed to travel chaos across Europe this summer.

British Airways, whose main base is Heathrow, earlier this month reached an agreement with check-in employees to head off a strike, after the carrier scrapped thousands of flights amid a staffing crunch.

The airport last week imposed a two-month cap on daily passenger traffic to contain the chaos, asking airlines to stop selling tickets for the summer season.

That prompted a clash with some carriers, with the airport blaming them for not recruiting enough workers to handle rebounding demand for travel.

The AFS workers had planned to strike for up to three days. Details of the new offer were not disclosed.

Another London airport, Gatwick, said yesterday that it has hired 400 more security workers in recent weeks to try to alleviate bottlenecks, and continues to recruit more.

BLOOMBERG