Thomson Airways headed for industrial turbulence yesterday with cabin crew roster controllers set to vote on Christmas strikes against real-terms pay cuts.

Airlines union Unite regional official Kevin Hall warned that the dispute would be well supported, leaving passengers facing "the real threat of disruption."

He urged bosses to "get around the table" to thrash out a fair deal.

Shareholders will be confronted with the news when they gather in Hanover, Germany, today for an extraordinary general meeting to discuss a formal £4.4 billion merger of British wing TUI Travel and German majority shareholder TUI AG.

TUI Travel, which owns Thomson Airways, boasted in August of a successful take-off in profits of 21 per cent to £92 million in the three months to June 30.

It predicted continued growth - and Unite acknowledged that some sections of the workforce had been rewarded.

But workers who draw up rosters for flight crew have seen their pay grounded with below-inflation rises since 2010, it said.

The decision to ballot from November 19 was taken after talks at reconciliation service Acas broke down.

"This is an extremely profitable company that rewards other sections of its workforce very generously," said Mr Hall.

"Our members earn relatively modest salaries ranging between £21,000 and £29,000 a year for the skills and dedication they bring to their jobs which ensure the smooth running of the airline and getting passengers away on time for their well-deserved breaks.

"We do not believe it is unreasonable to start to bring our members' pay back in line with inflation."

Thomson said it was "surprised and disappointed by the decision to strike at what it thought was an "extremely fair and reasonable pay deal," adding that the ballot was "premature" as talks were scheduled for next week.

Please note, an earlier version of this article falsely suggested that flight crew were involved in the dispute. In fact, only ground-based controllers are being balloted by Unite.