Loganair Cabin Crew Will Vote on Strike Action After Rejecting a “Final” Pay Offer

On Tuesday, October 6, 2026, the Unite union said more than 60 Loganair cabin crew will vote on possible industrial action after rejecting a “final” pay offer from the regional airline. The ballot opens on Thursday, October 8, and closes on Tuesday, October 27.

The crew taking part are based at Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, the Isle of Man and Southampton. Loganair says it does not expect the dispute to affect its services.

What Each Side Says

Unite’s complaint is about process as much as money. It says Loganair tabled a final offer before any negotiations had taken place, and that crew rejected it as unacceptable.

The union also points to an after-tax profit of £31.6 million over the last four years. “Not only is Loganair financially healthy, but its cabin crew are being asked to do more and more at a time when job insecurity has risen for workers,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.

Unite industrial officer Carrie Donoghue went further, saying any future strike “will be a direct result of the company putting profits before people.”

Loganair tells a different story. A spokesperson said the airline made an improved offer in late September giving certainty over a two-year period, and learned of its rejection “through the media rather than from Unite directly.”

The airline said it faces “fuel costs up significantly and consumer demand softening,” like every carrier. It added that it remains committed to reaching a deal through collective bargaining and hopes Unite will return to the table, as reported by STV News.

Two of the Seven Bases Are Closing

The vote lands in the middle of a network pullback. In August, Loganair said it would end all operations at Dundee from October 23, including the subsidized route to London Heathrow and links to Kirkwall and Sumburgh, and close its Southampton operating base only months after opening it.

That puts the Dundee exit four days before the ballot closes. Unite ties the dispute directly to it, saying workload pressure on crew is rising alongside the job insecurity that followed the decision to drop the Dundee public service obligation routes.

The previous agreement has already run out. The last deal Unite agreed with Loganair, announced in November 2024, covered more than 120 cabin crew and ran from September 2024 to April 2026, so it expired six months ago.

That 2024 deal lifted basic pay by an average of 23%, rising to 26.7% once other benefits and allowances were counted. The gap between those two numbers is a reminder that cabin crew pay is built from more than a basic rate.

What Happens Next

A ballot is not a strike. If members vote yes, UK law requires the union to give the employer at least 10 days’ notice before any action, down from 14 days since February 18, 2026, under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

With the ballot closing on October 27, that rules out a walkout before early November. A yes vote would also last longer than it once did: for ballots opened on or after February 18, 2026, the mandate runs for 12 months instead of six.

Island travelers would feel any action quickly. Shetland News notes that a strike by crew at these bases could have a knock-on effect on flights to and from Sumburgh Airport.

It follows another Unite dispute in British aviation: workers at Leeds Bradford, air traffic control among them, have set strike dates for October 16 to 18. For now, no Loganair strike has been called, and the airline expects no effect on its flights.