Renewed threat of disruption to BA flights

Unite said 13,000 of its members at the airline would vote again on whether to take industrial action in a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions.

The cabin crew were due to stage 12 days of strikes over Christmas, but BA took legal action to prevent them going ahead.

The High Court ruled that the strikes would have been unlawful because Unite had balloted workers who had subsequently left the airline.

The previous ballot returned a 9-1 majority in favour of action in an 80 per cent turnout, which the union said reflected the anger of cabin crew at imposed changes to their working conditions.

Yesterday's move follows a failure to reach an agreement despite talks over the past few weeks.

The ballot will start in a week's time, and raises the prospect of action in the run-up to the busy Easter period.

Unite said there was still no deal on the crucial issues of imposed changes to the workload and working conditions of the airline's cabin crew.

Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, said: "We have been engaged in intensive discussions with the company over the last few days, but unfortunately we have not been able to secure an agreement yet.

"We therefore have to honour our commitment to give our members the voice they were denied by the courts before Christmas, and hold a fresh ballot for industrial action.

"In notifying the company of this, I have reiterated that we want talks to continue, and that the union is prepared to meet any place, any time, to try and reach an agreement."

A BA spokesman said: "We are saddened but not surprised that Unite has called another strike ballot. If Unite eventually proceeds to an actual strike, we will continue to put our customers' interests first."