Pounds 200 millions the airline strike could be a fight to the death or to the BA's head step downTHEY came in high heels, Ugg boots and full make-up to learn if their union's call to strike would proceed. If the Unite members meeting at Sandown Park Racecourse, in southern England, yesterday (Monday) were a far cry from the industrial heavyweights of the 1970s, their dispute may yet become every bit as intractable. Neither the union leadership nor the boss of British Airways showed any sign last night (Monday) of backing down in the face of what could become the longest strike in BA's turbulent history. Unite said that a strike could be postponed if Willie Walsh, the BA chief executive, returned to the negotiating table with the union's joint general-secretaries, Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson. It added, however, that the dispute could not be resolved unless BA agreed to reverse changes to its cabin crew rosters, which the union claimed were imposed without consultation last month. Mr Walsh was equally unequivocal. "A strike is senseless and we urge Unite to draw back," he said. "We will not be reversing our changes to on-board crew numbers."Unite must understand that there can be no return to the old, inefficient ways if we want to ensure long-term survival in the interests of our customers, shareholders and all our staff." BA is losing pounds 1.6million every day and plans to reduce its cabin crew head count by 1,700. The decision to remove one steward from all flights and two on some long-haul flights from November 16 has stoked anger among staff. Senior cabin crew members are now required to serve passengers in business class, as well as manage the other cabin crew. Stewards are adamant that the change has affected their ability to work properly and that customer service has suffered as a result. Unite says that the changes breach staff contracts, but BA disputes this. The union failed to win an injunction preventing the changes last month and a High Court judge will rule on the issue on February 1. Unite insists that, whatever the judge decides, the cabin crew strike is justified. "We do not care if it is lawful or not. It is not acceptable to us," Steve Turner, Unite's national officer for aviation, said. "The only way we have to address unacceptable behaviour from a bad employer is to strike." The union has sent a letter to BA setting out 18 grievances. Eight of those relate to the roster changes. The ninth refers to a more traditional cause of industrial unrest: a two-year pay freeze. "The imposition is what has triggered the anger of our members," Len McCluskey, Unite's assistant general-secretary, said. He added that he wanted to avoid a personal dispute with BA's combative chief executive. "I don't want to personalise this," Mr McCluskey said. "He is the chief executive of a British institution that ... is going through some difficult financial problems and for him to take us into a dispute that will cost British Airways enormous sums of money just seems crazy. "I am hoping that he will see the business sense in stepping away from confrontation and reaching agreement." Without Christmas pay During the strike, cabin crew will receive pounds 30 a day, costing Unite more than pounds 500,000 over the 12-day Christmas period. Many of those arriving at Sandown Park yesterday (Monday) said that they were prepared to sacrifice pay this Christmas. "I have got a family to support but we feel we have got a gun to our heads and we have no alternative," one cabin crew member said. "I have been here 21 years and I want it to continue. But, if we let this go unchanged, we will have no future." She added: "It's the principle of the imposition of changes because we could have come to a negotiated settlement but there doesn't seem to be the will from BA to do that. They do seem to want confrontation and to break the union." Some members said that Mr Walsh would have to step down if the strike went ahead. "We need someone who is less combative. I think it is inevitable that he will go," a cabin crew member said. That view was shared by some of BA's competitors. "Twelve days is unprecedented. That is going to bring Willie Walsh to his knees," one airline executive said. "He has either got to embarrassingly back down with these plans to avoid a strike or he will press on and it will cost a fortune over the busy Christmas period." Analysts predict that a 12-day strike would cost BA pounds 200million. The airline is already losing more money than at any point in its history. It lost pounds 401million last year and pounds 292million in the first six months of this year - the first time that it has suffered a loss in the summer months. Even before yesterday's (Monday) announcement, some analysts predicted that losses would rise to pounds 750million this year after an expected pounds 1billion fall in revenue. The recession has hit BA hard because it relies on premium and business class travel. It has also been hit by rising fuel prices this year. Its second-biggest cost after fuel is staff, where Mr Walsh wants to secure annual savings of pounds 140million. BA's cabin crew are the best-paid in Britain, with an average salary of pounds 29,000, compared with pounds 14,000 at Virgin Atlantic Airlines