Festive flyers are facing the threat of severe disruption on British Airways flights over the crucial Christmas period after union officials told cabin crew a ballot to vote for strike action will close on December 14, raising the possibility of walk-outs from December 21.

More than 3,000 British Airways cabin crew at a mass meeting at Sandown racecourse today were told of the timetable.

The cabin crew were informed by Unite there would be a further mass meeting on December 14, when the results of the vote would be heard. The opening date for the ballot has not yet been announced, since British Airways has not been officially informed of the ballot.

Cabin crew have been angered by BA's planned changes in working conditions, which will cap bonuses for new staff and lead to fewer jobs. The union withdrew from talks with management earlier this month and began the process of a strike ballot because BA refused to withdraw its intention to impose the changes on November 16.

Unite is also seeking a court injunction to prevent these changes coming into force, with a hearing due this Thursday.

A spokesman for Unite that the turnout had been far higher than expected, adding: "We ran out of seats at 2,000 and we ran out of sign-in forms at 2,600."

Steve Turner, Unite’s national officer, who addressed the mass meeting, said: “People here are feeling very angry and frustrated at BA’s action.

“They find it inexplicable given all the hard work they put in and all the efforts we have made as a union to suggest savings, which the company has disregarded up to now.”

Mr Turner also warned that other groups of workers based inside terminals, such as check-in and transfer staff, could also become involved in the dispute.

If the cabin crew do go on strike, it will be the first walkout of its kind since 1997, when BA’s employees went on strike for three days.

BA said: "We are extremely disappointed that Unite has decided to ballot for industrial action.

"We have put together a package of changes, which, despite the unprecedented financial circumstances facing the company, not only protects current cabin crew, but also offers many new benefits.

"We have made it clear that there will be no change to the individual terms and conditions of our current crew. They will not take a pay cut. In fact some 75 per cent of crew will receive a pay-scale increase worth between 2 and 7 per cent this year and again next year. Our current cabin crew remain the best-paid in the country by some way."

The company said that it had announced changes to cabin crew numbers so that it could accept more than 1,000 requests for voluntary redundancy and more than 3,000 for part-time working.

The airline said that it had been negotiating with Unite for nine months, and added: “BA is facing very difficult economic conditions and is heading for a second successive year of financial losses for the first time in our history.

“Everyone within the company knows we must reduce our costs to move back towards profitability.”

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