British Airways is offering voluntary redundancy to 1,400 managers, the airline confirmed today, in a bid to cut its wages bill by £170 million.

The move is being targeted at senior and middle managers, including some of the airline's technical management staff.

Staff have been given the option of applying for voluntary redundancy but unions fear that compulsory redundancies will follow if not enough people take up the offer.

The airline, which last month announced plans to combine routes, pricing, sales and marketing with American Airlines to create a powerful new transatlantic carrier, wants to wipe up to £170 million off its wage bill by getting rid of swathes of senior staff - amounting to about 3 per cent of the total 42,000 strong workforce.

Letters offering severance deals to managers on salaries from £40,000 to £250,000 will be sent out on September 25, with managers expected to leave by New Year's Eve.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA, gathered 150 of his most senior managers yesterday to give them the bad news and blamed the high price of oil and the economy.

In a statement, the airline said: "We are in the worst trading environment the industry has ever faced and we must take action to offset the combined effects of the continuing global economic downturn, weakened consumer confidence and high fuel prices."

A spokesman added that employee costs were now second only to fuel costs, which are expected to rise by £1 billion this year to more than £2 billion.

Although the price of oil has been falling from a peak in mid-July, any benefit to BA has been wiped out by the sharp drop in the value of sterling, particularly against the dollar.

BA is also battling a general weakening in demand, with August traffic figures released by the airline showing a 2.7 per cent fall in its load factor - a measure of how full its planes are - compared to 12 months earlier.

BA also gave warning that the outlook for premium travel remained “uncertain” until after the summer break. The total number of passengers carried by the airline fell 3.2 per cent to 2,988,000 compared to August last year.

"We are determined to maintain a competitive cost base and we will continue to review all areas of the business," the spokesman said.

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