British Airways (BA) workers today overwhelmingly rejected the struggling airline's plan to cut thousands of jobs, overhaul working conditions and freeze pay.

A mass meeting of about 2,000 BA workers, mainly cabin crew but supported by baggage handlers and ground staff, discussed BA's plan to axe 3,700 jobs by March 2010 and freeze pay for all staff.

A spokeswoman for the Unite union, which represents most of the workers, told The Times, as the meeting was breaking up, that BA's employees "overwhelmingly rejected the company's plan, and there was overwhelming support for the union's alternative proposal".

She described BA's cost-cutting drive as "an opportunistic use of the recession" to cut jobs. She said the union had devised a plan to save £130 million by freezing pay for two years with a limited voluntary redundancy plan.

The revolt by BA workers comes just two days before the airline and staff are due to hold talks with ACAS, the arbitration service, acting as a mediator.

BA said it was not immediately able to comment on the outcome of the meeting, but a spokesman noted that it had been scheduled long before the talks with ACAS had been arranged.

"We are in an exceptional trading environment," he said, noting that the airline had posted a £400 million loss for its most recent financial year, having made £900 million of profits over the previous period.

Separately, he said that about 7,000 BA staff had responded to its call for employees to take unpaid leave or work fewer hours. He said that about 800 staff had agreed to work unpaid for between one and four weeks.

BA has been hit by the slump in the travel industry in the wake of the recession. The high oil price during the past two years has also dramatically increased its fuel costs and last week it revealed plans to cut its annual capital expenditure by 20 per cent.

Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, has made clear that the airline is fighting for its survival. He agreed to work unpaid for one month.

Unite described BA's proposals as the most profound for staff in a generation. The spokeswoman said that workers were particularly concerned by a newly proposed "starter" salary for cabin crew of £11,000 a year.

This could be increased by a further £4,000 a year to cover flight costs, she said, but it underscored BA's view of cabin crew as short-term and not part of a career path at the airline.

Of the 3,700 proposed job cuts, about 2,000 would come from cabin crew and a further 1,000 in check-in, administrative and clerical staff, BA said.

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