Heathrow Workers Back On Job

British Airways said Friday that all of its striking Heathrow Airport workers were returning to work after a 24-hour walkout that saw all flights canceled at the airport and about 70,000 travelers stranded.

The airline said it would resume "a limited number of flights" starting at 8 p.m. (3 p.m. EDT).

But it warned that the disruption caused by more than 500 canceled flights at one of the world's busiest airports would continue for many hours.

"We face a complex logistical challenge with at least 100 aircraft and 1,000 flying crew out of position," said BA's customer services director, Mike Street. "As a result it will take some time to return to a normal flying program."

Hungry, frustrated passengers slept on terminal floors and lined up for hours Friday after an unofficial walkout by ground crews halted the airline's flights to and from Heathrow Airport for at least a day and left at least 70,000 passengers stranded at the height of the summer holiday season.

Hundreds of baggage handlers and other ground staff walked out in support of workers fired by U.S.-owned catering firm Gate Gourmet. Analysts warned the airline faced losses of tens of millions of dollars.

Gate Gourmet makes onboard meals for British Airways, reports CBS News Correspondent Charlie D'Agata, and when hundreds of employees went on strike, they were canned.

"We regrettably had an illegal action. We tried for over a couple of hours to get our employees back to work, and regretfully we had no alternative but to dismiss them," said CEO David Siegel.

As a result, about 1,000 people spent the night on floors and in seating areas at the airport, BA said, while about 4,000 had been put up in hotels nearby. Incoming flights were diverted to airports as far away as Newcastle in northern England and Glasgow, Scotland.

"We are waiting, but we don't know for what," said Jimmy Kakoo, one of a group of Portuguese Boy Scouts who fashioned a makeshift shelter inside Heathrow's Terminal 1 from luggage trolleys and sleeping bags. "We are all a little frustrated, but we can't do anything about it so we don't let it bother us."
BA chief executive Rod Eddington said the situation was "regrettable in the extreme."

"This is not our dispute," Eddington said. "Our customers must come first and everyone involved in creating this chaotic situation must come to their senses."

But many of the passengers who spent the night on floors and departure lounge benches, and faced hours-long lines to make alternative flight arrangements, blamed the airline.

"I'm too polite a lady to say what I think of British Airways," said Daphne Morley, a resident of Melbourne, Australia attempting to fly to St. Petersburg, Russia. "Our luggage is somewhere in Neverland. There's no chance of change of clothing or anything."

Qantas, Finnair, British Mediterranean and Sri Lankan Airlines, which use BA ground staff, also canceled their flights from Heathrow on Friday.

With almost 100 BA aircraft and 1,000 air crew out of position around the world because of the strike, Heathrow management warned that disruption would last for days.

"People are saying we won't get out here until Monday or Tuesday," said Sally Hater, a resident of Cambridge, Vermont trying to get a flight to Boston. "We had to wait four hours last night just to get hotel accommodation. They gave us phone numbers, but you can't reach them. They're useless."

Police with submachine guns patrolled the airport as usual, but the Metropolitan Police said the strike had led to an escalation of security at Heathrow. A spokeswoman said the force was prepared to send in more officers to keep the peace if passengers became unruly.

There was a ripple effect around the world, as passengers due to fly to London found themselves stuck.

"We've been here for three hours, and no one has said anything about hospitality, or 'sorry,'" said Rick Doehring, due to fly to London from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport en route to Detroit. "It is getting tiring."

The chaos grew from a dispute between catering workers and Gate Gourmet, which provides onboard meals for British Airways flights. The workers' union said the company had fired 800 workers on Wednesday after an unofficial strike. The company said 667 workers had been dismissed.

BA baggage handlers and loaders represented by the same union as catering staff — the Transport and General Workers Union — stopped work in sympathy with their colleagues.
Some Gate Gourmet staff were astounded at the scale of disruption.

"I didn't expect the BA staff to join us, but we are very happy about it," said Gary Mullins, 37, a loader for the company.

"We don't wish to cause them any more (aggravation) than we have to," he said of the passengers. "But it's something that has to be done."

Gate Gourmet, which is undertaking restructuring amid financial losses, said it was trying to resolve the dispute.

Gate Gourmet, which is owned by the U.S. company Texas Pacific Group, reported a loss of $41.25 million last financial year, and was expecting a $44.84 million loss for the current year.

This is the third consecutive year that BA has suffered a disruption at the height of the summer holiday season. Last August, thousands of disgruntled vacationers were stranded at Heathrow after the airline canceled scores of flights because of staff shortages and technical hitches.

In July 2003, an unofficial walkout by several hundred check-in staff disrupted thousands of passengers and cost BA tens of millions of dollars.

Henk Potts, an analyst at Barclays Stockbrokers said the latest dispute could cost the airline $18 million a day.

In its last financial year, which ended in March, British Airways PLC earned $467.31 million, up from the previous year. Full-year revenue rose 3.3 percent to $14.49 billion.