BA 'has 1,000 staff to tackle strike'

BRITISH Airways has 1,000 volunteer staff ready to work as cabin crew in the coming weeks if a threatened strike goes ahead, the chief executive said.

Willie Walsh also revealed BA would hire 23 fully crewed planes from a charter company to help run flights from Heathrow in the event of industrial action.

Mr Walsh gave the information during an internal briefing to staff, bringing them up to date on the dispute over jobs and working conditions.

He made it clear that cuts in flight crew numbers, one of the issues at the heart of the dispute, will not be reversed.