Gate Gourmet 's roots are in Swissair . For a long time , Gate Gourmet was considered Swissair 's " Crown Jewel " . The company was worth roughly 6 billion Swiss Francs before the September 11 attacks and the bankruptcy of Swissair . The rise of oil prices and collapse in consumer travel damaged the airlines and many of Gate Gourmet 's main customers went bankrupt or narrowly avoided bankruptcy . The weakness of the airlines affected the industries that cater to or support it . This eventually set the stage for Swissair 's crown jewel requiring a restructuring effort , which soon burdened its employees . The company was then sold in 2002 to Texas Pacific Group for US$ 870 million , . On 1 March 2007 , Texas Pacific Group sold its remaining shares in Gate Gourmet to Merrill Lynch . A major dispute , reminiscent of the Grunwick dispute of the 1970s , ensued when it sacked 670 staff based at Heathrow Airport in August 2005 ; the staff were gathered in a car park and the announcement made by megaphone . In sympathy with the sacked workers , British Airways staff at the airport walked out , and mass pickets of Gate Gourmet were organised by the Transport and General Workers ' Union . Several workers alleged that Gate Gourmet had engineered the dispute to employ non-union workers at lower wages and with worse conditions of employment . The company subsequently offered a redundancy package of more than twice the statutory minimum in an effort to resolve the labour difficulties , secure a new deal with British Airways , and avoid insolvency . The union later negotiated the reinstatement of some of the employees , but others have continued to protest at their treatment
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Gate Gourmet