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BA works to clear backlog after crippling strike

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BA works to clear backlog after crippling strike

LONDON (Reuters) - More than 80 percent of British Airways flights were expected to operate from London's Heathrow Airport on Saturday as staff worked to clear the backlog caused by a crippling wildcat strike.

A spokeswoman warned it would take several days to resume normal service however after the strike grounded more than 110,000 passengers during the peak summer holiday season.

Some flights resumed late on Friday after being cancelled since Thursday but thousands of passengers remained stranded.

Mike Street, the airline's director of customer services and operations, said BA faced a complex logistical challenge, with at least 100 aircraft and 1,000 flying crew in the wrong place.

"We are working as hard as we can to get customers away on their holidays," he said.

A spokeswoman for the airline said 85 percent of short-haul flights, some 170 departures, and 80 percent of long-haul or 60 flights were scheduled to leave Heathrow on Saturday.

"The focus is just on getting people moving today," she said.

Around 1,000 BA staff walked out on Thursday in support of workers who were sacked at the company's catering supplier. More than 700 flights have since been cancelled.

"It will take some time to return to a normal flying programme," the airline said on its Web site. "We recognise how frustrating this must be but we are working as hard as we can to get customers away.

UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION

"We apologise unreservedly to our customers. This is an unprecedented situation. We are doing everything we can to help our customers and have drafted in additional staff from around the airline."

BA said only customers with confirmed reservations would be accepted into the airport for travel. Barriers are in place at Terminal 4 to prevent anyone without a reservation from entering.

Arbitrator ACAS began talks with the catering workers' union and the catering supplier, Gate Gourmet, on Friday and they are scheduled to continue through the weekend.

Passengers who did get a BA flight out of Heathrow on Friday were given food parcels and vouchers before leaving due to the absence of on-board catering.

BA flights not operating out of Heathrow did have on-board catering but those taking off from Britain's capital could only serve drinks.

Around 100,000 passengers fly daily with BA during August, and about two thirds of its flights, excluding franchises, use Heathrow, the world's busiest international hub.

BA said 73,000 passengers were grounded on Friday after 40,000 passengers were unable to fly on Thursday.

Analysts said the cancellations could cost Europe's No. 3 airline tens of millions of pounds.

Shares in BA, already suffering from record oil prices and competition from low-cost carriers, fell as much as 2.5 percent in early trade on Friday. However, they recovered during the session and closed down 0.8 percent at 290 pence.

Unofficial strikes in 2003 cost BA around 40 million pounds ($72 million), and analysts said the firm was getting a reputation for letting customers down.

BA said it was too early to estimate the cost.

Other airlines faced knock-on disruption. Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd. said it had cancelled flights, while Finnish national carrier Finnair and Sri Lankan Airlines were also affected.

BA's relations with staff have been strained since the airline axed thousands of jobs in an industry downturn that followed the September 2001 attacks on the United States.

The latest dispute was triggered by a long-running spat between the union and loss-making Gate Gourmet, which is owned by U.S. private equity fund Texas Pacific.

Unions said Gate Gourmet staff were sacked after they walked out in protest at planned changes to pay and conditions. The company said its reforms were needed to safeguard its future.

 

Copyright © 2005 Reuters

 

The Star Online

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