British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh has held “open and frank” talks with union leaders to try to avoid the strike threat which hangs over the airline in relation to its plans for cabin crew redundancies.

Mr Walsh held talks with Derek Simpson, joint general secretary, and Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary, of Unite which has 28,000 members at BA.

Unite said last week that it will have no option but to ballot for industrial action if BA’s changes are imposed on staff. British Airways said Mr Walsh had subsequently written to Mr Simpson and was awaiting a reply.

Neither side gave any indication from either side how long the talks lasted or what was the substance.
The job cuts are part of a total of 3,700 jobs to be cut over the next year. BA has said that in addition to the 1,700 cabin crew jobs, it iss looking to reduce the size of its check-in and administration staff.