British Airways flights to Heathrow canceled due to workers strike

[nyhuskyfan]

Everything is canceled until 1 p.m. tomorrow. CNN sent out a e-mail that made it sound terrorist-related, but thankfully, it wasn't.

Edited to reflect the lack of terrorism-related issues.

[Newsjock]

1. It's a wildcat strike, not the whole airport, just BA

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4142408.stm

Thousands of passengers remain stranded at Heathrow airport after a wildcat strike by catering staff led British Airways to ground all its flights.

BA baggage handlers and other ground staff have walked out in support of workers at Gate Gourmet - the company that supplies BA's in-flight meals.

[pitohui]

2. not all flights

whew

scared me, i have friends flying to london today

just british airways

[CherokeeDem]

3. The Idiots are at CNN

There is a wildcat strike at Heathrow...I just checked on the BBC website. CNN is really trying to deceive. I have to admit I got a bit angry, below is the email I just sent CNN. Not very eloquent but I was pissed!

My Email to CNN:

Hey, you idiots...you put a breaking news headline up like the one on now at 5:34 pm and don't tell the entire story? Did you want people to think it was terrorist related? Are you nuts? Did you look at BBC and see what was really going on? There's a link below and a brief bit from BBC. It is certainly true that the airport is closed but... Get a grip...and please, be responsible, you could have easily put in that it was a wildcat strike. Geez! Thank goodness I rely on the BBC and The Guardian to tell me the truth!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4142408.stm

Thousands stranded in air chaos

Passengers were given food parcels to take on flights
Thousands of passengers remain stranded at Heathrow airport after a wildcat strike by catering staff led British Airways to ground all its flights.

[nyhuskyfan]

5. Ugh...

I was a little panicky when I got the e-mail. I'll alter the subject so no further people get the wrong idea.

[pitohui]

6. thanks for the change of headline EOM

.

[CHIMO]

4. Food fight grounds BA

British Airways today suspended all flights from Heathrow airport as it became embroiled in a dispute with a catering company.
Thousands of passengers were stranded at the airport after some of the airline's loaders and baggage handlers stopped work in sympathy with sacked catering staff.

BA was forced to accommodate passengers in hotels near Heathrow after deciding they could not run any short- or long-haul flights from terminals 1,3 and 4 at the airport.

Union leaders had warned that a dispute that started yesterday could escalate if it was not resolved quickly. The row began when Gate Gourmet, a US-owned firm, sacked 800 staff over plans to restructure the company.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,1371,1547320,00.html

[Kipling]

7. Hmmm...

On the one hand, nice to see worker solidarity. On the other hand, what a pain in the arse.

[DemoTex]

8. CNN Breaking: BA cancels all flights out of Heathrow until tomorrow.

-- British Airways cancels all flights in and out of London's Heathrow Airport
until 1 p.m. ET (1700 GMT) Friday.

Watch CNN or log on to http://CNN.com

That is 5 pm tomorrow, London time. WTF?

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. Must be them terra-ists. Better invade Iran.

[seriousstan]

11. "following a series of wildcat strikes."

[Lori Price CLG]

12. Oops - I just read the first line on righthand side of page - I support...

unions striking, :)
I commented on this part of the story: "CNN Breaking: BA cancels all flights out of Heathrow until tomorrow." I should have read the details, LOL!

Lori

[Fire Walk With Me]

13. Sorry, should have added "sarcasm".

It's not like BushCo would lie about anything for their own benefit, would they.

Sarcasm.

[DemoTex]

10. Wildcat strikes ..

British Airways has canceled all flights at London's Heathrow Airport until late Friday after a series of wildcat strikes stranded thousands of passengers during the peak summer holiday season.

Suitcase-laden travelers crowded the entrances to the world's busiest international airport after baggage handlers, loaders and bus drivers walked out in sympathy with workers at Heathrow caterer Gate Gourmet, which is caught up in a row with management.

At least 20,000 people were stranded Thursday after some 120 BA flights at Heathrow were canceled.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/08/11/ba.strike.reut/index.html

[ncrainbowgrrl]

14. The food service people were on strike earlier today.

And the baggage handlers joined with them in not performing their duties. I think this one might not be "Terra" related.

[KDLarsen]

15. Virgin Atlantic must be laughing their heads off..

Apparently, Virgin Atlantic decided to cancel their contract with Gate Gourmet (GG), which forced GG to lay off workers. This caused a wild cat strike among the GG workers, which then lead to TGWU workers (baggage workers, tugdrivers, busdrivers etc.) to go on a strike, forcing British Airways to its knees.

[DS1]

16. Excuse me a moment while I sound like Reagan

but fuck that shit, who wants to eat airplane food? Eliminate the jobs, they are worthless.