Heathrow walkout strands thousands

Thousands of passengers were stranded yesterday when British Airways cancelled scores of flights into and out of Heathrow airport following an unofficial walkout by ground staff.

Eighty-nine domestic and European flights to and from terminal one were hit by the action, which affected 10,500 passengers.

With the holiday season building up to a climax and many schools breaking up for summer, this is one of the busiest times of the year for Britain's busiest airport.

Chaos broke out at 4pm when around 250 check-in staff staged a spontaneous strike in protest at plans to introduce new working practices.

Passengers arriving at Heathrow were handed a letter of apology from BA staff and told to go home, while hundreds more found themselves trapped on the wrong side of passport control.

The crowds eased as the evening wore on and staff started returning to work.

BA was expecting to operate a normal schedule today, although passengers were urged to check before travelling to Heathrow.

The workers, members of the GMB, the Transport and General Workers Union and Amicus, were said to be angry at changes to working patterns. They believed these could lead to staff being sent home during quiet periods and working longer when it was busy.

BA described the claim as "absolute nonsense" and said it was trying to introduce a new system for signing on and off work, which was common throughout British industry.

A spokesman said 2,000 employees were already operating the new signing on and off system, and BA wanted to introduce it for another 2,500 staff.

This year's 3% pay offer has been made conditional on adoption of the new working practices.

"There is a lot of anger over this and the workers who have walked out are not traditionally militant, which shows you the strength of feeling," said one union official.

Talks between the company and unions were held yesterday and union representatives reported back to a meeting of workers in the afternoon. Staff at terminal one decided to stage an unofficial strike immediately after hearing details. A spokeswoman for the GMB said morale at the company was low following thousands of redundancies in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks and a pay rise of only 1% last year. But none of the unions condoned the strike.

Among those affected was international DJ Carl Cox, on his way to play at a venue in Istanbul when his flight was cancelled. "It's not just our plans that have been wrecked, there are 3,000 people who have paid to see me tonight and now that's in jeopardy," said Cox.

"We are going to try to charter a jet. We can't get a flight tomorrow because they are all fully booked, and I'm meant to be playing for another 3,000 people there tomorrow."

Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrats' spokesman on London, said the reputation of Heathrow could be damaged.

"This walkout on the eve of the very weekend that thousands of people are about to begin their summer holidays will cause chaos.

"The reputation of both airport workers and managers depends on their ability to resolve this issue extremely quickly."