BA warns of more delays

Many passengers have spent the weekend at the airport

British Airways is warning passengers to prepare for further delays despite the end of an unofficial walkout by staff at Heathrow Airport.

After a weekend of chaos caused by the surprise walkout, the company said it hoped to operate all of its scheduled flights on Monday.

But delays could continue for up for two more days as a backlog of passengers is cleared.

BA is asking all passengers with confirmed tickets to come to the airport as normal, but says those whose flights were previously cancelled should stay put.

It said 113 flights had taken off on Sunday, with 133 expected to depart from 1700 BST onwards.

However, 18 European flights were cancelled on Sunday.

A BA spokesman said the airline was "working as a matter of priority" to restore services to normal after customer service staff returned to work on Saturday afternoon.

An estimated 80,000 people have been affected by the action since Friday, which resulted in hundreds of flights being cancelled.

Stranded

The unofficial strike by 250 ticket and baggage handling staff began at 1600 BST on Friday, forcing BA to cancel all domestic and European flights from Terminal One.

Inbound services were also grounded, and staff stopped work in Terminal Four.

Terminal One was packed as services stopped

Hundreds of passengers, unable to find hotel accommodation, spent Friday night in the terminal.

About 2,000 passengers hoping to travel between Scotland and London were stranded overnight.

The workers were protesting against a new swipe card entry system, called Automated Time Recording, which allows managers to monitor their working hours.

It is understood staff are worried that the system, due to be introduced on Tuesday, could lead to staff being sent home during quiet periods.

BA denied this, and said swipe cards had already been in use in some parts of its Heathrow operations for three years and was widespread across British industry.

But one union official said managers had been warned staff were deeply unhappy about the system.

He said: "These are not militant workers - but they have just had enough."

'Human gridlock'

As the walkout continued, all 360 scheduled flights from Terminal One were grounded on Saturday.

Saturday's short-haul services from Terminal Four were also cancelled, along with all long-haul flights before 1800 BST.

A union source said staff had returned as "a gesture of goodwill to passengers".

Passengers criticised BA's response to the industrial action, saying no staff were on hand to help those stranded - causing "human gridlock".

The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) - which represents some BA staff - confirmed that the strike was unofficial, as the move had not been put to the vote by its members.

BA has set up a special telephone line for passenger information, on 0800 727800.