Heathrow strike: Everything you need to know about the now-cancelled industrial action

Passengers hoping to fly to, from or through Britain’s busiest airport on Tuesday now have some certainty about their holiday plans – but the threat of strikes over the bank holiday weekend remains

Planes on the runway at Heathrow airport (PA)

A one-day strike at Heathrow involving around 2,500 security guards, firefighters, engineers and other workers, due to start at one minute past midnight on Tuesday 6 August, has been called off. Twenty-four hours earlier, a planned strike for Monday was suspended by the Unite union.

These are the key questions, and the best answers at present.

What is the dispute about – and what might have been the effect of a strike?

Staff directly employed by Heathrow airport and belonging to the Unite union, including security officers, firefighters and engineers, are in dispute with the employer over pay. Unite say they are not fairly rewarded and that Heathrow’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, earns in two days what some of the lowest paid airport workers earn in a year.

Heathrow says the pay package on offer is above inflation, competitive and fair. After a day of high-level talks at Acas, Unite has chosen to postpone its strike on Tuesday 6 August. Industrial action on 23 and 24 August is still scheduled to go ahead.

An airport spokesperson said: “Unite will now take an improved offer to its members and we remain hopeful that we can find a resolution and stop this disruptive and unnecessary threat of strike action.

"We regret that passengers have been inconvenienced by this and urge them to contact their airline for up to date information on the status of their service.”

When the series of strikes was first called, the union warned: “Summer travel chaos at Heathrow airport is looming large … in a move that could potentially shut down the airport.”

Heathrow is the world’s busiest two-runway airport, and has very little slack in the system. The fear was that travellers would be delayed at security and arrive at the gate late. Airlines would have to choose between keeping the plane on the ground – triggering problems later on in the day – or departing without some of the passengers on board. So Heathrow mandated that airlines cancel some of their flights.

Virgin Atlantic aimed to minimise problems by switching airports – moving some New York and Boston flights from Heathrow to Gatwick.

Why were some flights cancelled anyway, even though there was no strike?

Long-haul airlines such as Air India had to decide whether to despatch a long-haul flight and risk it being caught up in a strike, and so cancelled before the strike was called off.

Some short-haul flights remained cancelled because the process of reinstatement is complex and can result in half-empty flights.

Will passengers whose flights were cancelled get compensation?

Since the cause of cancellations was not the airlines’ fault, there is no entitlement to a cash payout under European air passengers’ rights rules. Additional costs may need to be claimed from travel insurance.

When will we know if the next strike will go ahead?

Unite will ask its members to approve the settlement negotiated on Monday. The last improved pay offer was swiftly and strongly rejected. It should become clear in the next few days what the staff think.

Meanwhile the threat of a pilots’ strike at British Airways is still looming …

Yes, but the two sides were talking on Monday at Acas. I don’t expect any announcement of strike action unless and until those talks break down. Anyone flying up to and including 19 August should be fine.

How much has this all cost, and who pays?

The cost to airlines in terms of lost revenue and extra expenses from the dozens of cancelled and diverted flights runs into millions of pounds. Heathrow says it will not be compensating the airlines.