BA tries to blame crew for losses

The airline put its losses down to cabin crew strikes and Iceland's volcanic ash cloud, which cost BA around £250m over the quarter and saw its finances descend £164m into the red for the three months to June 30.

Since March, BA cabin crew have taken 22 days of strike action with further potential walkouts on the horizon after rejecting the airline's "final" offer. But Unite joint general secretary Derek Simpson stressed it was not the union's intention to see BA lose money but to get a fair deal for members.

He also said many cabin crew expressed concern about a fall in BA's reputation and standards.

"You have to question the direction and sense of the management, particularly a chief executive who wants to impose change in a bid to put up profits, without the support of staff," said Mr Simpson.

"This is a dispute over £10m. Contrast that with the £164m in losses this quarter alone and questions must be asked about the direction of BA's management and the sense of them maintaining this dispute with cabin crew.

"It is important to remember that, on every call in this dispute, BA management has got it wrong.

"It claimed that crew would accept the offer if Unite put it to them - they did not.

Only 15 per cent voted in favour, with 85 per cent finding no appeal in it at all."

He also refuted BA's claim that the majority of crew worked during the dispute because Unite processed over 7,000 claims for strike pay, which amounts to 70 per cent of Heathrow crew on strike, the backbone of the BA operation.

Chief executive Willie Walsh said the airline had seen an improved operating performance despite the disruptions and BA still expects to break even this year after two years of losses.

He believed the "final" offer rejected by Unite members earlier this month still formed the basis of a resolution.

Unite will meet Mr Walsh at conciliation service Acas next week.