The union Unite said the walkouts will take place for three days from March 20 and four days from March 27, after months of talks on pay and working conditions broke down. Easter is on April 4. The union also warned of further action if an agreement is not reached by April 14.
No action will take place over the Easter holidays, Unite said.
Mark Lennihan, AP
A British Airways cabin crews plan to go on strike over pay freezes and cuts in crew on long-distance flights.
British Airways, which is facing two years of financial losses, said it was "extremely disappointed" at the decision. It said a walkout could affect "hundreds of thousands of our passengers" in the run-up to the holiday period.
A new offer by the airline was withdrawn, the BBC reported, after the strikes were approved and the union said it was ready to put the offer to a vote but would not recommend it.
The union called the strike over changes in November that reduced the number of crew on long-haul flights and froze pay rates beginning this year. Its assistant general secretary, Len McCluskey, said the union felt it was "forced into this by the company."
The airline, which posted a $130 million loss for the first nine months of this financial year, said long-haul flights from Gatwick Airport would not be affected. Some short Gatwick flights within the U.K. and to Europe would be canceled, it added. It plans to operate a "substantial part" of all flights to and from Heathrow, The Associated Press reported.
Service at City Airport, which serves London's financial district, including long-haul flights to New York, would not be affected, the airline said on its Web site.
"Should a strike take place, we will do everything we can to protect our customers' travel plans as far as possible," BA said.
To this end, the airline has trained 1,000 other staff workers as crew. It also has announced that those who strike will lose pay and highly valued perks like discounted tickets, raising a question about how many of the union's 7,500 cabin crew will actually join the walkout.
The airline is also working to obtain seats on rival airlines and is in talks with baggage handling staff at Heathrow. But a spokesman for the airline said the prospect of involving them in the strike was "extremely speculative and premature," the BBC said.
The union said it is aware of the "need for change" and had offered a package that would save money through pay cuts and part-time working.
The deal was rejected by BA this week, and the head of the airline, Willie Walsh, said today that the two sides are "not close at all."
The planned strikes follow similar actions in France and Germany last month. Hundreds of flights were canceled in France because of a strike by air traffic controllers; Lufthansa pilots staged a one-day walkout.
