100,000 passengers affected by BA strike
Thousands of passengers were stranded at London’s Heathrow airport Thursday as British Airways is hit by work stoppage.
British Airways was forced to cancel all its flights from London’s Heathrow airport Thursday after 1,000 staff members stopped work in sympathy with 800 workers fired by the airline’s catering supplier, Gate Gourmet as a result of a restructuring plan.
More than 500 flights to Britain, Europe and the rest of the world have been affected so far, affecting about 20,000 passengers, during the peak summer holiday travel season.
While many travelers were warned about the cancellations before making a futile trip to Heathrow, many others were left stranded and angry, despite promises by BA of a refund or the possibility of rescheduling their flights.
In addition to the cancelled flights, BA also had to divert many flights bound for Heathrow, just outside London, to other airports.
Thousands of passengers spent the night at Heathrow after BA could book only 2,000 hotel rooms for 17,000 passengers trapped by yesterday’s cancellations. The airline was looking for rooms in hotels as far away as Brighton.
Senior union officials gave warning last night that the dispute could drag on for days.
The financially troubled catering firm, following major restructuring, had been in negotiations with union members since February to work out a plan to reverse heavy financial losses.
Charles Kao
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