The flight's second leg, from Paris to London Heathrow Airport, was normally underbooked; however, due to a strike by British European Airways employees, many London-bound travellers, who had been stranded at Orly, were booked onto Flight 981, delaying the flight departure by 30 minutes.
A segunda parte do voo, de París ao aeroporto de Londres-Heathrow, normalmente tiña poucas reservas; porén, debido a unha folga de empregados de British European Airways, moitos viaxeiros a Londres, que quedaron en terra en Orly pola folga, reservaron unha praza no voo 981, atrasando a súa saída 30 minutos.