Leeds Bradford Airport Strike Is Off for October 16 to 18, but the Half-Term Dates Still Hang on a Pay Vote

The strike that was due to start at Leeds Bradford Airport on Friday, October 16, 2026, will not go ahead, the Unite union confirmed on October 15. About 130 workers, including air traffic controllers and hourly paid staff, have suspended the walkout to vote on new pay offers from the airport.

The dispute is not over. Unite says that if the offers are rejected, the second round of strikes planned from October 23 to November 2 will go ahead.

What was called off, and what was not

Both groups had been due to walk out from Friday, October 16, to Sunday, October 18, as we reported when the strike dates were announced. Unite’s October 5 notice set the hourly paid staff stoppage from 3am Friday to 6am Sunday, and the air traffic controllers’ from 6am Friday to 6am Sunday.

The suspension came in two steps. On October 13, Unite said the controllers’ strike was suspended after a late offer from the airport, so that controllers could be balloted on it.

Hourly paid staff, a group Unite says includes passport control, check-in, security, passenger assistance and cleaning roles, were still set to strike if they rejected a separate offer in a ballot closing October 14. Unite’s October 15 statement does not give the result of that vote.

Its October 15 statement says both groups now have new pay offers and will vote on them separately, so neither walks out this weekend. Unite regional officer Neil Whitaker said the union had suspended the action “in good faith to allow members to vote on pay deals.”

What the airport says

A Leeds Bradford Airport spokesperson welcomed the decision and said the airport “will operate as normal, with no disruption expected to services” this weekend, in a statement published by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

The airport added that “a revised pay offer remains on the table” for its hourly paid colleagues and that it is hopeful of a positive resolution. Neither the airport’s statement nor Unite’s says what the offers contain.

Why the controllers mattered most

The two sides disagreed on how bad the weekend would be. Unite said the airport would shut, because no flights can arrive or depart without air traffic control and no one can travel without passport control.

Before the suspension, the airport said it expected to run “near-normal operations.” Its statements reported at the time did not say how it would staff the control tower.

That is why the controllers carried so much weight. In the UK, a controller needs a valid unit endorsement from the Civil Aviation Authority for the specific unit they work at, so a tower team cannot simply be swapped out at short notice.

At the heart of the dispute is pay parity. Unite says a starting air traffic controller at Leeds Bradford earns around £34,000, against £55,000 for the same role at Newcastle Airport, and that many hourly workers earn just above minimum wage.

The union also points to ownership. It says Spanish airport operator AENA, which part owns Newcastle, took a 51% majority stake in Leeds Bradford in May through a £270 million holding company deal.

What travelers should do now

Anyone flying from Leeds Bradford between October 16 and 18 should expect a normal operation, according to the airport. It is still worth checking your own flight with your airline.

Travelers booked for the October 23 to November 2 window, which covers the busy school half-term break, should keep watching. Neither Unite nor the airport has said when the new ballots close, so it is not yet known when those dates will be confirmed or dropped.