Lerwick; Wednesday, 10 August, 2005

With my bags packed, a hearty breakfast in my stomach and a cheque in the hands of the landlord I set off to the airport.

The flight to Aberdeen went fine, leaving me with nearly 3 hours to kill at Aberdeen. On a chance I asked the BA ticket desk if it were possible to swap to the flight just over an hour earlier, but was told it would cost about £190!!

So I wandered through to the departures lounge with a copy of the paper, a book and a cup of coffee. Then after 20 minutes there was an announcement that anyone booked onto my flight had to report to the BA checkin desks with urgency

Little to my knowledge several hundred miles south in London a serious industrial dispute had kicked off at the company which provides BA with its in-flight catering. The plane which was due to become my flight back was in the process of being grounded as no food could be found for it at such short notice.

Back up in Aberdeen, and after going the wrong way through security! I arrived at the checkin desk to be told I was being transferred (for free) onto the earlier flight – Lucky I hadn’t paid the £190. With my new boarding card, I went back through security and onto the gate with only 20 minutes to wait before boarding for an uneventful but early arrival into London.