London, July 19: British Airways ground staff at London's Heathrow Airport were returning to work today after their unofficial walkout stranded thousands of travelers. An airline spokeswoman said staff were starting to return across the terminals and that British Airways was talking to the unions.
About 250 staff at Heathrow walked off yesterday in a protest against a proposed new timekeeping system. The airline canceled 61 outbound flights and 28 incoming flights yesterday, and scrubbed other flights scheduled to depart to British and European destinations before 0900 GMT (0330 IST) today.
"We are doing everything we can to resume normal services today although we expect to be very busy dealing with the backlog of customers and baggage," Mike Street, the airline's director of customer service and operations, said earlier. The workers were protesting plans to introduce automated time recording (ATR), an electronic system in which employees swipe a card at the start and end of their shifts.
Workers believed this could lead to staff being sent home during quiet periods and working longer when it was busy.
BA rejected that charge, saying the timekeeping system was common in British industries. Bureau Report