Refuelling workers at London Gatwick have balloted for industrial action after rejecting a pay offer. Here is exactly what it means, who is affected, what you are legally owed, and how Sussex and Brighton travellers can protect their journey.
Refuelling workers employed by Menzies Aviation on the Shell fuel contract at London Gatwick balloted for industrial action after rejecting the company latest pay offer. Unite the Union closed that ballot on 11 August 2026.
These are the tanker drivers and fuelling operators who physically put jet fuel into aircraft. There is no meaningful workaround: an aircraft that cannot be refuelled cannot depart. That is why Unite has warned that hundreds of planes could be grounded if action goes ahead.
The gap is remarkably small. Menzies offered 3.5%. Workers want 4.5% plus overtime parity — they currently earn time-and-a-third while other Menzies staff on comparable roles get time-and-a-half. One percentage point stands between a normal bank holiday and potential travel chaos.
Unlike baggage or check-in disruption, fuelling cannot be covered by managers or agency staff at short notice. Tanker operations require specific licensing and airside safety certification.
A one percent gap — with an entire bank holiday weekend hanging on it.
Airport ground-handling strikes are generally treated as within the airline control — unlike air traffic control strikes or extreme weather. That distinction matters, because it is the difference between a refund and a refund plus cash compensation.
| Situation | What the airline must provide |
|---|---|
| Flight cancelled | A full refund within 7 days, or a re-routing to your destination at the earliest opportunity — your choice, not theirs. |
| Under 1,500 km | £220 compensation if cancelled with less than 14 days notice and the delay to arrival exceeds the thresholds. |
| 1,500–3,500 km | £350 compensation on the same basis. |
| Over 3,500 km | £520 compensation on the same basis. |
| Delayed 2 hours+ | Duty of care: meals, refreshments, two phone calls, and hotel accommodation plus transfers if an overnight stay becomes necessary. |
| Stuck overnight | The airline must arrange and pay for a hotel and transport to it. If they fail to, book it yourself at a reasonable standard and claim it back with receipts. |
Rumours travel faster than facts during a strike. Bookmark these and check them directly rather than relying on social media:
Gatwick is not a distant London airport for people here — it is the local one. It handled more than 43 million passengers last year and is the second busiest airport in the United Kingdom, sitting barely half an hour up the road from Crawley and well under an hour from most of Brighton and Hove.
That proximity cuts both ways. Sussex residents get the convenience of a major international hub on the doorstep, but they also absorb the disruption first: the congestion on the M23, the crowded forecourts, the surge in demand for every available taxi at exactly the moment thousands of stranded passengers need one.
The practical lesson from previous Gatwick disputes is straightforward. The travellers who came through it well were the ones who had already locked in the parts of the journey they could control — and left flexibility for the parts they could not.
Fixed prices, flight monitoring and 24/7 availability — direct from your front door in Brighton, Hove, Lewes, Eastbourne, Worthing, Crawley or anywhere across Sussex. If your flight moves, so do we, at no extra charge.
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