EasyJet could suffer its first strike action if pay packet negotiations are not successful.
Discussions broke down last week between the airline and the trade union Unite over pay for cabin crew. This caused Unite to announce that a ballot of its UK cabin crew for industrial action would open next Tuesday until 3 August.
EasyJet crew receive a total pay package of £25,000 and the company offered pay increases of 4.1% for cabin crew and 5.1% for cabin managers over two years. These hikes have already been implemented.
It claims it had “made more than five different offers and Unite made no constructive offer during the process”.
A regional officer at Unite said there is a “considerable amount of time before the result of the strike ballot” for “management to come up with a fair pay offer”. He added that the ball was “very much in their court”.
The budget carrier said it is “confident” it can run its full summer schedule. The “majority” of its 3,500 cabin crew are not union members and it estimated that just one in five of its employees voted against the pay offer it made.
Figures for June showed a 7.6% increase in passenger numbers to 6.6 million compared to June 2014 with aircraft flying at nearly 93% seat capacity.
