Virgin pilots voted yesterday to go on strike and the first walkout could happen as soon as early July.
BAPLA, the British Airline Pilots Association, says 94% turned out to vote in the ballot, and the result was an overwhelming majority, 97%, in favour of going on strike.
Virgin Atlantic flights to long-haul summer destinations such as Disneyland Florida, California and the Caribbean, Australia and the Far East look likely to be affected. The strike couldn’t come at a worse time as families get ready to escape the UK weather on their summer holidays, but Virgin Atlantic said it was preparing contingency plans to put in place .
Seven hundred and fifty pilots are involved in the action against Virgin’s proposed 4% pay increase which BAPLA says isn’t enough after three years of pay freezes. The pilots are the only Virgin employees who plan to strike – other divisions have accepted their pay deals.
More details will be released later this week…