Smith
I have to reply to your post 1182 and set the record straight as you seem to have well and truly been given the wrong information
I was one of the pursers on board one of 5 747 and 2 777 aircraft that diverted to Prestwick on the 2 Feb 2009
After landing all passengers and baggage were off loaded and taken into the terminal were passengers were all given over night accomodation in the local area and were well looked after , many were put up in 5 star hotels
BA operations at Heathrow told us all we would night stop and have minimum rest and take passengers back following day which we all understood and accepted to help minimize any further disruption
All crew were accomodated in the Menzies hotel in Irvine not your 5 star hotel you quoted but perfectly ok given the circumstances and we were well looked after by the staff
Following morning the first aircraft left Prestwick with passengers and crew about 8 am the last leaving i believe about 3 pm . The aircraft were prioritized in departure depending on where they had come in from the day before ... ie . Cairo left first with Cape Town and Narita flights departing later on , giving time for crew / flight deck to take minimum rest
At no point did crew have 3 days up in Ayrshire lapping it up or have taxis and shuttle flights offered
Some crew who lived in Scotland were given dispensation to go home from there , rather than go back to LHR and take valuable seats that were needed for disrupted passengers to try and get them home !
Finally the 60 k a year is quite mind blowing
It seems to me you read the Daily Mail to much and watch Sky news to get your facts for this one