Egads, this is a travel nightmare!

[Ghoulish Delight]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8910867/

British Airways cancelled all its flights from London’s Heathrow Airport on Thursday at the peak of its summer holiday season, stranding some 20,000 passengers, following a series of wildcat strikes.

Suitcase-laden travellers crowded the entrances to the world’s busiest international airport after baggage handlers, loaders and bus drivers walked out in sympathy with workers at Heathrow caterer Gate Gourmet, which is caught up in a row with management.

British Airways said it had booked “a few thousand” hotel rooms for passengers but many faced the prospect of spending the night at the airport.

Airport staff handed out free bottles of water and engineers began to erect large marquees on the forecourt so that people would have somewhere to shelter.

The dispute worsened on Wednesday when Gate Gourmet sacked around 350 workers who went on strike over the company’s decision to hire seasonal workers, unions said.

And the most depressing quote of all...

“We’ve planned this holiday for 18 months and we’re going to a wedding. We’ve saved long and hard for it. I’m gutted,” said Ian Thompson, 51, who was trying to catch a flight to Los Angeles.