British Airways (BA) workers have suspended strikes that had been planned at Heathrow during the school summer holidays after receiving a “vastly improved” pay offer from the airline.

After extensive negotiations, the Unite and GMB unions said an agreement was reached and members involved in the dispute would now vote on the proposed offer.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “We welcome that BA has finally listened to the voice of its check-in staff. Unite has repeatedly warned that pay disputes at BA were inevitable unless the company took our members’ legitimate grievances seriously.

“I pay tribute to, and stand with, our members who have fought hard to protect their pay.”

Unite regional officer Russ Ball said: “I want to salute the solidarity and bravery of our members, who, through acting in unity, have ensured that a vastly improved offer has been made.

“I am proud to be associated with our check-in members at British Airways.”

More than 700 check-in staff and ground-handling agents had voted for industrial action, seeking to reverse a 10% pay cut imposed during the pandemic when global lockdowns grounded flights.

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Around 13,000 jobs were also cut by BA.

The airline had previously offered a 10% one-off bonus, but not a return to the same pay as before.

There were fears that the strikes would have pushed the airline to cancel even more flights after cuts of 10,300 were announced yesterday, impacting services until the end of October.

BA has already scrapped 13% of its scheduled flights this summer.

Airlines have until Friday to cancel flights without risk of penalty – including the loss of take-off and landing slots – when a government amnesty is due to expire.

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