failed to leave Gatwick Airport yesterday.

British Airways blamed mechanical difficulties for the hold-up of the flight which is now expected to arrive just after noon today.

The return flight, BA 232, will depart the Civil Air Terminal at 7.30 p.m.

tonight, arriving in London at 6.05 a.m. tomorrow.

BA's public relations consultant in Bermuda Mrs. Sallie Singleton said: "The return flight has been arranged for an arrival in London at a time deemed to be the least inconvenient for the passengers.

"If it had turned right back it would have arrived in the middle of the night which would have made it hard for everybody. This is a better time.'' Mrs. Singleton denied that the flight had been held up because of snow in London, although bad weather has disrupted some services in Britain.

Bermuda Industrial Union's boycott of American Airlines is over. The decision follows the end of the strike by American's flight attendants.

BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons had urged his members to boycott American flights.

But yesterday he said he backed President Clinton's move to recommend binding arbitration to resolve the dispute. "The Bermuda Industrial Union, therefore, pledges its full co-operation with management and staff of American Airlines and looks forward to a satisfactory outcome.''