BRITISH Airways cabin crews will go ahead with a wave of strikes from today after hopes of a last-ditch deal collapsed.

The joint leader of Unite, Tony Woodley, had offered to suspend the industrial action if the airline gave back travel concessions, but the war of words between the two sides continued, with BA saying it was disappointed he had taken to negotiation via the media, rather than through Acas.

BA said in a statement: “We had agreed to a request from Acas to meet this afternoon and are surprised that Unite did not take advantage of this.

“We have already offered to reinstate travel concessions to cabin crew once all elements of our offer have been implemented.

“Of more concern to us is Tony Woodley’s comment to the media that he wants to revisit certain proposals in our offer, when previously he had indicated that these were agreed. This position reinforces our view that Bassa (the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association), at the centre of this dispute, is not serious in trying to come to a negotiated agreement with British Airways – and that Tony cannot control Bassa.

“We call on him to call off the strike action and return to the table with Acas to finish the discussions that started yesterday.”

BA said its priority now was helping customers caught in the middle of the dispute, adding that its focus will be on flying tens of thousands of passengers in the coming days despite the strike.

“All flights at London Gatwick and London City will operate as normal. At Heathrow, we expect to operate more than 60% of long haul services and more than 50% of short haul flights, and we will add to that schedule where we can.”