British Airways Suspends Three Pilots over Anti-Gay Facebook Comments

Three pilots have been suspended by British Airways after they made anti-gay comments on their Facebook pages. The action comes as the airline is suffering the longest employee strike in its history, forcing the pilots to work as flight attendants.

Three British Airways pilots were yesterday suspended after branding passengers "wankers", "faggots" and "tossers". The Mirror revealed their foul-mouthed tirade on Facebook. One described cabin crew as "bum bandits". Adam Corfield and Jonathan Harman, both BA 747 first officers and BA Airbus A320 pilot John Lincoln are under investigation after standing in for crew during walkouts. Meanwhile, striking BA staff have complained to Parliament about working in a "climate of fear". A motion tabled by Labour MP Jim Sheridan, signed by 27 MPs, warned that the ''longest-running strike... can only be damaging to the reputation and standing of the UK's national carrier.'' There was still no sign of a deal yesterday and the union is poised to ballot for more strikes to hit at the peak of summer holiday flights.

Britain's LGBT rights group Stonewall says they are satisfied with the airline's response.