Prospect union has said members from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will walk out on strike next month for the first time in 40 years.
Having taken action short of a strike since mid-January, Prospect said on Tuesday that members from the regulator would walk on for 24 hours on February 6.
“Ongoing action short of a strike could cause delays across the industry to things like fleet refits, the introduction of new models, licensing of new hanger facilities,” it said.
Some 400 workers are involved in the dispute over pay, which Prospect noted followed a 3% to 4% increase offer after the CAA went “through the motions of negotiating”.
“There is still time to avoid further industrial action which will be damaging for the industry but the employer needs to restart good faith negotiations,” deputy general secretary Rachel Curley commented.
“This is not an issue that is going to just go away and if it continues it will start to impact airlines causing delays to planned upgrades with a knock-on effect felt by passengers.”
A CAA spokesperson responded that news of the strike was “disappointing” but assured the sector was unlikely to be affected.
“Prospect members make up around one in five of our employees and we do not anticipate any disruption to the aviation sector, or any impact on our regulatory oversight activities or other safety-critical work, as a result of this action,” they said.