Virgin Atlantic pilots vote for Christmas strike action
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One of the Virgin Atlantic pilot unions, the Professional Pilots Union which represents around 1/3rd of Virgin pilots, has announced a series of one day strikes over the holiday period.
The strike is not, oddly, over money. It is over the fact that Virgin Atlantic will not, for unspecified reasons, allow it to join the other main staff unions in discussions over employment issues.
The planned strike dates are:
- 22nd – 25th December
- 30th December – 2nd January
- 4th January – 7th January
Virgin Atlantic does not believe that the strikes will cause any significant disruption, although without knowing how the PPU pilots are dispersed across the fleet it is hard to get a clear view.
If all of the A330 pilots were PPU members, for example, then it would clearly be a major issue. If the PPU members were equally split across all aircraft types then smart rostering should allow non-striking pilots to be allocated trips on the affected days.
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As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):
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You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.
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The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.
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Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.
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American Express Business Gold
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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.
