British Airways and unions are GBP£10 million pounds (USD$15 million) away from reaching the airline's cost savings target from staffing changes and averting a cabin crew strike, according to Unite officials.
"We are only GBP£10 million apart now but if they (BA) are intransigent in terms of that figure we will have to start talking about dates (on which to strike)," a Unite spokeswoman said ahead of a union meeting Thursday to discuss a potential strike.
More than 80 percent of the 9,000 BA cabin crew balloted by Unite last month voted in favor of industrial action but no date for a walkout has yet been set.
BA wants three-quarters of its crew to accept a pay freeze this year, and for 3,000 staff to switch to part-time working, along with a reduction in onboard crewing levels from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from London Heathrow to help it deliver the GBP£62.5 million in cost savings it is looking for.
"We've offered to take a 2.6 percent reduction in pay and to make various changes in work practices which will save BA about GBP£20 million but they don't like our figures so there is a figures war going on," the Unite spokeswoman added.
The Trades Union Congress, which has been mediating negotiations, said talks between the British carrier and Unite aimed at averting a strike broke down Wednesday.
A BA spokesman said Thursday the airline was "available for further talks" with Unite.
BA's CEO, Willie Walsh, has said the airline must move away from its old, inefficient ways if long-term survival is to be ensured and that changes at the airline, which analysts believe is losing around GBP£1.5 million a day, are essential to help repair its precarious finances.
