Union urges BA to return to talks

Most BA cabin crew plan a three-day strike starting next Saturday, followed by a four-day walkout from March 27, a decision which resulted in BA removing a formal offer made to staff conditional on Unite not naming any strike dates.

BA said on Monday it aimed to fly around 45,000 customers a day during the first stoppage, roughly 60 percent of those booked to fly on those days.

"What we need to do is put the offer on the table, let's get 100 percent of these flights flying and get serious negotiations off the ground again and I make that offer publicly," Unite Joint General Secretary Tony Woodley told BBC Radio 4.

BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh has said the airline must move away from its old, inefficient ways if long-term survival was to be ensured, and that changes at the airline, which analysts believe is losing 1.5 million pounds a day, are essential to help repair its precarious finances.

Woodley said it had not been made clear BA's offer would be withdrawn if the union followed through on its threat to strike.

"If I had had an inkling that was the case then certainly my thoughts wouldn't have resulted and ended up where we are today," he said.

"Put the offer back on the table that we had last week and then we can postpone the dispute and get into real serious talks to solve this very difficult problem once and for all."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has condemned the planned strikes, and urged BA and Unite to resume talks.

The opposition Conservatives have pointed out that Unite is ruling Labour's largest financial backer. A strike could hurt the party's image weeks before an election.