UK Airports Strike?
 

Workers at Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted airports plan to stage three strikes in January: all day on January 7 and 14, followed by a 48 hour strike from 6:00 a.m. on January 17. Union workers include firefighters, maintenance workers, security, and clerical staff. The strike would also Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports.

Ok so since I'm flying out of Heathrow on Jan 14, what does this mean? Do I need to contact British Air about alternatives on getting home?

If strike action goes ahead, you probably won't be flying out of Heathrow on 14th. Several other airports are also affected (the full report is in the Daily Telegraph which can be read on line). I think it would be a good idea to contact your airline to find out what is happening.

Thanks! This is not good news as my DH had to take leave in order to watch the kids so I could go on this trip! Will have to reconfigure things......going to call British Air!

Well, I just spoke with a BA rep, and so far they can't tell me anything, not even what (might) happen if the airport does close including whether or not I might have to incur a fee to change the date (?)....Anyone else flying these dates into or out of these airports? Has anyone dealt with this type of thing before?

The airline won't tell you much at this stage as they will be hoping for a settlement before 7th Jan. If the strike action goes ahead, most if not all flights will be cancelled. Passengers would then be booked on the next available flight. It is possible that the airline would put you on a different route as not all airports are affected. At the moment, no strike action is planned for Manchester airport (my daughter is flying back from there on 6th Jan).
It will probably take at least a couple of days for things to get back to normal following strike action. Planes will be stuck abroad etc. In addition, as this is just after the New Year rush, most flights are pretty full.
As you aren't flying until 14th Jan, ther could well be a settlement before then. Watch and see what happens on 7th Jan.

More good news....potential strikes at Virgin Atlantic Airlines. 48 hour strikes starting at 6am on Wednesday, January 9, and at 6am on Wednesday, January 16.

May your holidays be strike-free!

Thanks for the info Carolina! I'm going to call the airline in another week, to check up on the status. I hope it comes to a quick settlement for all involved.

We are due to fly from Cardiff home to Edinburgh on 7th Jan and I'm just going to wait & see - no point trying to do anything about it yet.

And... that was the right thing to do, since the strike of 7th Jan has been called off. Talks are ongoing but with a draft resolution on the table, so the rest are likely also to be called off.

would appear they have been called off

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7169738.stm

Jim

Ah, there we go.

Thank God!! My BIL arrives today (he invited himself to a wedding we're attending this w/e) He often looks for reasons to extend his stay.