Travellers using Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) this weekend can breathe easier after Unite the Union late Saturday confirmed it had suspended industrial action planned for 16-18 October. The walk-out would have involved air-traffic controllers as well as security, check-in and passenger-assistance staff, threatening to close the UK’s 14th-busiest airport at the height of the half-term getaway. Talks brokered by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) produced a revised, two-year pay offer worth 9 % back-dated to April plus a one-off £750 cost-of-living bonus. Union representatives said the proposal “narrows an unacceptable regional pay gap” that saw trainee controllers at LBA earn £21,000 less than counterparts in Newcastle. Members will vote on the package next week; the union has agreed a ‘cooling-off’ period that keeps the airport strike-free until at least 22 October. Airport management has confirmed all departures and arrivals will operate to the published timetable and advised passengers to arrive as normal. Carriers including Jet2, Ryanair and Aer Lingus had contingency slots at Manchester and East Midlands airports on standby; those allocations have now been released, averting knock-on disruption to the wider Northern hub network. For corporate mobility teams the resolution removes a headache at the start of one of the UK’s busiest domestic travel weeks. LBA handles around 175 flights per day in the shoulder season and is a key base for oil-and-gas crew changes into Aberdeen and Stavanger. Travel managers who had rerouted executives should reconfirm original itineraries and hotel allocations, as some IDS (irregular-operations) hotel blocks have been cancelled. Although the immediate threat has passed, Unite warns fresh stoppages from 23 October to 2 November remain ‘on the table’ should members reject the deal. Businesses with Yorkshire operations should therefore keep alternative rail and road options on file and ensure Travellers’ Duty of Care notifications remain active through the ballot period.
