Now BA plans to axe 1,300 ground staff

British Airways is planning to axe up to 1,300 more jobs in addition to the 1,700 revealed last week.

Crucial talks are to take place tomorrow at Acas, the conciliation service, as the threat grows of strikes in the run-up to Christmas.

In addition to cuts in cabin crew, jobs will now go in other front-line areas.

The unions say BA plans to axe 10 per cent of its workforce.

A senior union source said: "We are talking about people who manage the queues, sell the tickets and take flak when Terminal 5-type horrors occur."