Thousands stranded as strike-hit BA scraps flights
British Airways tonight cancelled all its short-haul flights from Heathrow airport because of a worsening crisis caused by an unofficial walkout by baggage handlers which stranded tens of thousands of passengers.
The airline started putting passengers up in hotels near Heathrow after deciding they could not run any flights to Europe or the UK.
Dozens of flights would normally have left the airport on short haul destinations between mid-afternoon and midnight.
But the airline decided to take the drastic step of cancelling services because of a wildcat stoppage by several hundred baggage handlers, loaders, cargo staff and other workers.
The walkout was in support of several hundred employees of BA’s catering supplier Gate Gourmet who were sacked yesterday in a row over working practices.
