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Airports face strike chaos
Dick Murray, Transport Editor21 Dec 2007
Heathrow, Gatwick and other major airports face shutdown because of strike action.
Staff at airport owner BAA have voted in favour of industrial action in a row over pensions.
Union chiefs at Unite, the country's largest union, will announce one or more 24-hour strike dates bringing disruption to hundreds of thousands of travellers.
Heathrow is so crowded, with 200,000 passengers a day and planes landing and taking off every two minutes, that a 24-hour walkout will result in several days of chaos. More than 5,000 staff took part in a ballot to protest against BAA's plans to close its final salary scheme.
The BAA website stated: "Our first priority is to ensure there is no disruption to our passengers and their travel plans."
