Passengers face a summer of chaos after staff at a major Scottish airport threatened to strike during the World Cup and Commonwealth Games.

People flying to World Cup and Commonwealth Games events during the summer holidays could face disruption as Glasgow Airport workers consider industrial action in a dispute over pay.

Aviation trade union Unite said that central search members based at the airport, working for security firm ICTS, are being balloted for strike action after they rejected an ‘unacceptable’ pay offer from the company.

Unite said that if the ballot is successful, strike action could start during the busiest period of the summer holidays coinciding with the Commonwealth Games which are being held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2, and with the World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by sixteen cities - 11 in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada.

The prospect of a strike comes as families also face the threat of soaring holiday prices and aviation fuel running out due to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

The Unite ballot for Glasgow Airport opens on May 1 and will close on May 21.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Unite has warned ICTS that our members at Glasgow airport deserve a better pay offer than what is currently on the table.

‘ICTS is a highly profitable company that can fully afford to make a decent pay offer.

‘The company’s cavalier attitude and failure to make a fair pay offer has created this dispute.

‘Unite will back our ICTS members every step of the way in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.’

Unite said that around 170 ICTS workers have ‘emphatically’ rejected a pay offer from the company.

ICTS central search staff were offered a 3.2 per cent pay rise.

With inflation expected to rise sharply this year, Unite said there is ‘some distance to go to receive a fair and reasonable’ wage increase.

The union said ICTS workers deal with passengers directly in the security search areas and process them for flights and also control access posts, cover mobile patrols and screen all deliveries.

Carrie Donoghue, Unite industrial officer, said: ‘Unite has made it clear that there should be a far better pay offer which reflects the critical role our members perform at Glasgow airport.

‘The reality is that the airport simply can’t operate without them.’

‘It is ICTS that is putting the travelling public at risk during an expected very busy summer due to the World Cup and Commonwealth Games.’

Carrying over seven million passengers per year, Glasgow Airport describes itself as a ‘key component of Scotland’s transport infrastructure’.

Thousands of Scottish fans are expected to travel across the Atlantic to cheer on the national team, after Scotland qualified for the World Cup for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will feature 10 days of sport in four venues, with more than 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories of the Commonwealth.

Last summer, union bosses threatened a 48-hour strike in a dispute over pay at Glasgow Airport, which had been scheduled for late July 2025.

Unite the union said at the time that its members, which include airside support officers, engineers and managers, had planned to walk out.

The industrial action was threatened during the traditional Glasgow Fair fortnight and the airport’s busy summer months.

But in August last year Unite said strike action had been averted after workers backed an increased pay offer made by Glasgow Airport’s owners.

The cash payment was said to be worth an additional 4 per cent for the lowest paid members with ‘airside support unit operatives gaining an additional uplift increasing their pay award by up to 11.6 per cent’.

ICTS was contacted for comment.

A Glasgow Airport spokesman: ‘We are aware of ongoing talks between Unite and ICTS and are keen to ensure this dialogue results in a positive resolution.’