Thanks for clearing that up nclops!
As I said, it was second hand info when I got it, from someone who still works at NCL. Apparently its a common story doing the rounds there. But from my experience NCL is built on rumour.
Only thing that I thought, is that with three handling agents at the airport, BA (or any airline) is in a pretty good position to get a decent contract from someone when it comes to renewal time. Punctuality may become much less of an issue if they can get a cheap deal from someone else (including heavy fines for delays!).
I actually fear for the longer established handling agents such as swissport and servisair.
Rtg!