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LONDON: British Airways vowed Monday to keep 60 percent of its customers flying during a looming strike, as Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged a trade union to call off its "deplorable" action.
Unite, Britain's biggest union, announced Friday that BA cabin crew members will walk out for seven days between Saturday and March 30 in a row over changes to crew numbers and working practices.
The first wave of strikes will take place for three days from Saturday, followed by a second walkout from March 27 for four days, causing misery for thousands of travellers in the run-up to Easter.
Brown has faced criticism over his handling of the dispute from the main opposition Conservatives, who say he does not want to upset Unite, a major donor to his Labour party, ahead of this year's general election.
"Around 60 per cent of our customers will be able to fly as planned and many thousands more can be rebooked onto alternative BA flights or onto rival airlines," BA chief executive Willie Walsh said of the first wave.
The airline will give more details on arrangements for the second stoppage period "once we start to understand just how many cabin crew are willing to work as normal," Walsh added.
BA is aiming to keep most of its passengers in the air in the first period by using staff who are not striking, as well as leasing up to 22 planes with pilots and crew from up to eight other European airlines.
The dispute between BA and the union was earlier condemned by Brown, who urged it to be called off.
"It is the wrong time, it is unjustified, it is deplorable, we shouldn't have a strike," Brown told BBC radio on Monday.
"It is not in the company's interest, it is not in the workers' interest and it is certainly not in the national interest. I hope that this strike will be called off."
Transport Secretary Lord Andrew Adonis said travellers "should not be held to ransom" in industrial disputes. He warned at the weekend that a strike would "threaten the very existence" of struggling BA.
Unite insists it wants to avoid strike action and is ready to negotiate.
"I don't blame the prime minister for trying to help bring together parties to resolve the dispute," said the union's joint leader Tony Woodley.
"But it is rather unfortunate that politicians of all parties always want to kick the unions and kick the employees when in actual fact it's my members who've been kicked here."
The proposed industrial action leaves Brown in a tricky position ahead of a general election, widely expected on May 6, because Unite are among the biggest financial backers of his governing Labour party.
The main opposition Conservatives have claimed Brown was worried about upsetting Unite.
"How can you talk about protecting jobs and beating the recession when you are so reliant on this increasingly militant union that is intent on bringing a British company to its knees?" chairman Eric Pickles said.
According to Pickles, Labour received 11 million pounds or 25 percent of its funding from Unite since Brown took power in 2007.
Last month, BA forecast a record loss in its current financial year owing to weak demand for air travel, despite sharp cost-cutting. - AFP/de
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