industrial action at John F Kennedy Airport in New York yesterday.

The slow-down by mechanics caused the airline to pull the scheduled flight to the Island last night, meaning there is no aircraft to fly back to New York this morning.

Around 120 people booked on the flight to New York this morning were scrambling yesterday afternoon to find alternative flights. Some left early on the Delta flight last night.

American officials are hoping the dispute, arising out of contract talks with mechanics, will be resolved by today, otherwise further flights will be pulled.

If the problem is not sorted by this afternoon, this evening's flight from JFK to Bermuda will be cancelled, along with the tomorrow morning's return flight to New York.

Carol DeCouto, American Airlines' manager in Bermuda, said last night: "We are hoping everything should be resolved so the night flight is not affected.'' Between 55 and 100 flights out of JFK to the Caribbean and Europe were affected by yesterday's action.

An American spokesman said: "We believe this activity is deliberate, illegal, unwarranted, and is totally unexpected.

"We regret that the actions of a few are inconveniencing our customers, and are exploring all options to minimise impact on our passengers and get them on their way.''