Britain’s second-busiest airport faces a second wave of disruption within days, this time entirely of its own making.
More than 200 workers providing assisted travel services at Gatwick Airport have announced strike action over a pay dispute with their employer, Wilson James, with walkouts scheduled for 17–21 September and 23–26 September. The announcement follows severe disruption earlier this week, when a technical failure in the air traffic control system grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands of passengers stranded; Gatwick alone recorded 138 cancellations, according to flight tracker Flightradar24. The timing could scarcely be worse for an airport that has just experienced its busiest summer season since 2019.
The workers, who are Unite members, unanimously rejected a two-year offer from Wilson James that included a 3.4 per cent pay rise, a 0.6 per cent non-consolidated bonus, and a 0.5 per cent increase in pension contributions for 2026, with the second year tied to CPI inflation plus 0.5 per cent. Unite contends the offer fails to address what it describes as a prolonged period of low pay, noting that the lowest-paid Wilson James workers currently earn £14.71 per hour. The union has been in negotiations with the company since May without reaching an agreement it considers acceptable.
A Gatwick spokesperson stated that the airport is working with Wilson James to avoid any operational impact and expects to maintain a normal flight schedule on the affected dates, expressing hope that the two parties reach a resolution beforehand. Unite regional officer Ben Davis was more direct, arguing that industrial action remains avoidable provided Wilson James tables a materially improved offer. The company had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
The episode illustrates a familiar tension in outsourced airport services: when profitability accumulates at the top of the contractual chain, pressure on pay at the operational level tends eventually to surface in ways that impose costs on everyone. A negotiated settlement, whatever its precise terms, would plainly serve all parties better than a prolonged dispute at one of Europe’s major aviation hubs.