BA offer fails to win over union leader

The union Unite said there was "nil" chance that it would recommend the latest offer from the airline to its members.

Its joint leader Tony Woodley said the failure of BA to reinstate staff travel arrangements, which include the chance to buy discounted flights, to crew who took part strike action in March and May meant any deal was "uncertain".

BA made the new offer on Friday. It includes two years of guaranteed rises in basic salary from February 2011.

A spokesman for the airline said it welcomed Unite's decision to delay the strike ballot.

He added: "We believe our offer is fair and reasonable and provides a genuine opportunity to end this dispute."

Mr Woodley said union officials had no choice but to delay the ballot to allow members to be consulted on the offer but he added: "The fact that staff travel arrangements have not been restored to thousands of crew prevents this offer from BA being the breakthrough everyone seeks.

"Failure by BA to restore travel in full means the possibility of a recommendation is nil and makes acceptance of the offer uncertain."

He continued: "This dispute could have been settled months ago. A company cannot expect to attempt to beat its employees into submission and still function normally – it has to win hearts and minds if it is to progress.

"By choosing conflict over consensus, BA has lost tens of millions of pounds and one-and-half million BA passengers have deserted the airline for other carriers.

"We hope that postponement of the strike ballot will give them time to reflect on what more they need to do to restore peace and stability to this company."

Unite had been due to hold a ballot starting tomorrow unless there was a breakthrough in the dispute, which has seen 22 days of strike action since March and cost BA around 150m.

The new offer includes a top-up payment to guarantee that existing crew will not lose out on route allowances when newly-recruited crew begin flying in the autumn.

Making the offer on Friday, BA's cabin crew head Bill Francis said: "We have changed our offer in line with feedback we have received from crew and we genuinely believe that it can end this dispute – which is what the vast majority of crew and our customers want."

During the days of the dispute, BA was able to operate services on most of its long-haul routes but had to axe a number of short-haul flights.

The strike ballot starting tomorrow would have taken around a month and would have led to the possibility of walkouts in the busy travel month of August.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said: "Any movement in this increasingly acrimonious dispute is welcome after months of stalemate.

"But the real test must now be progress towards an enduring solution that will remove the threat of industrial action from BA, allowing it to rebuild its brand image and restore the confidence of its passengers."