Virgin Pilot Walk Outs
If you take your holidays in America or further out than Europe then an aeroplane is the only way you can go quickly, but it means that you are at the hands of airline staff who strike due to their wages, not to mention the current worry of volcanic ash as the worlds volcanic circles become more active.
So it's no surprise this summer that families could have their holidays disrupted when Virgin Atlantic pilots stage a walk out in arguments over their pay.
Families who have their hearts set on a break to the Caribbean, the west and east coast of America and the Far East and Australia could face disappointment as seven hundred and fifty long haul pilots have decided to walk.
The pilots who are currently earning over one hundred thousand pounds per year are angry at salary freezes and offers of only a four percent pay rise, which seems ludicrous to the majority of the country who will never see that sort of money.
The issue is compounded by the fact that British Airways staff have been back and forward in pay rows, and people chose to book with Virgin Atlantic to save the worry of being left with no flight to their holiday destination.
No sooner are British Airways on the brink of sorting out the pay issues with their staff, than the staff for Virgin Atlantic are ready to walk out for the same reason.
Virgin Atlantic, owned by Richard Branson, see around six million passengers on their flights per year. They are one of the only airlines to fly from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow, and handles roughly fifteen thousand passengers a day. Which is a lot of people to disappoint.
Balpa chief Jim McAuslan said: 'There has been no UK pilot strike for 32 years.
But there comes a time when even moderate people say enough. With no pay increase since 2008, a below inflation offer for 2011 and proposals for 2012 and 2013 that will be sub-inflation this is now a six-year attack on living standards which has not happened in any other UK airline. We do not want to inconvenience the public and hope that Sir Richard will use some of his undoubted flair to settle this.'
Check with your Holiday Insurance to see if you are covered against flight cancellations.