Originally Posted by Tits McGhee

There is a lot more to this story than Sky have chosen to report.

This incident actually happened in March when there was enormously heavy snowfall in New York. Most flights in and out of the region were cancelled, including almost all of ours.

Due to the mass influx of crew from all airlines (including BA) we were unable to accommodate the crew at the normal crew hotel in the city. Further, we were unable to accommodate the crew elsewhere on Manhattan and they ended up being accommodated in a hotel nearer the airport.

Sadly, this hotel was very, very much below standard. No locks on doors (suitcases used to hold doors shut), rooms rented by the hour as opposed to nightly, Freeway almost right outside the bedroom windows, etc. The crew felt that they were unable to operate the return service some 36+ (IIRC) hours later than planned due to the lack of rest they experienced at their hotel.

It's a CAA regulation - if crew feel "fatigued", they should not operate.