'The system will work,' says airport chief amid Border Force strike threat
James ChappleThe Airport Operators Association (AOA) has played down the threat of major disruption should Border Force workers walk out over the festive period, claiming "the system will work".
Thousands of Border Force officials were among around 100,000 civil service members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) who voted in favour of strike action last month in a dispute over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy. The PCS union represents around 15,000 Border Force workers.
With unions obliged to give two weeks’ notice of any strike plans, the earliest the walkout could start would be 21 December. Dates are expected to be announced on Wednesday (7 December).
According to The Telegraph, the government has put 600 members of military personnel and other civil servants on standby to alleviate pressure on airports in the event of strike action.
Speaking at Abta’s Travel Matters seminar on Tuesday (6 December), AOA policy director Christopher Snelling said while Border Force operations were one function beyond its members control, with passenger volumes still below pre-pandemic levels, he believed airports would hold up in the event of a strike.
"We’re still looking at 70-80% of 2019 travel levels so we’re operating within previous limits," said Snelling. "The PCS strike on border control is one thing that’s out of our control. It shouldn’t be a universal problem. It will mean more queuing, but the system will work."
Snelling added he was hopeful of a "good quality, reliable service" this winter. He told delegates that after a "difficult" start to the year, airlines and airports had "made it work" and "pretty much delivered" this year.
He did, though, warn the sector needed to continue investing in recruitment owing to "higher churn rates". "It’s much harder to keep experienced staff," he said, adding the AOA was having recruitment and resilience meetings with members.
Manchester Airports Group on Wednesday (7 December) it had recruited back up to pre-pandemic levels after taking on around 2,000 new starters, more than half of whom are in security posts.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, the trade body for UK registered airlines, said it was time for the narrative to move away from there being major issues and disruption at airports. "We had a very difficult start as we only got told in March were were going to restart," he said.
Alderslade said while there was a "particular issue" around the Border Force strike threat, the sector was beginning to increase pay and perks to retain and recruit new staff. "We feel in quite a good place," he said.
Of the strike, he said without yet knowing the exact dates, the government’s contingency plans or where the burden would fall hardest, any action would likely result in longer queues at Christmas, especially at larger airports.
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