British Airways cabin crew with the Unite union are being balloted on strike action that could take place over the Christmas holiday period.

The union said on Monday it will announce the results of the planned ballot in mid-December.

A Bermuda-based BA spokeswoman said the airline's Island employees were not members of Unite and so would not be voting.

The union said it would announce the result of the strike ballot on December 14. Under Britain's industrial relations laws, a walkout could begin a week later, on December 21. The union has previously said it would reconsider the ballot if it is successful in receiving the High Court injunction.

The decision to begin voting next week followed a mass meeting of more than 3,000 cabin crew at a racecourse near London to discuss a response to BA's cost-cutting plans.

The carrier has announced it planned to cut 1,700 jobs, freeze pay for current staff and offer lower wages for new employees.

The union already has applied for a High Court injunction to stop BA introducing the new pay and conditions, which affect some 14,000 cabin crew and are due to be introduced on November 16.

Len McCluskey, Unite's assistant general secretary, said workers were feeling "resolute" and were determined to resist the new contracts.

The BA spokeswoman said told The Royal Gazette: "At the moment it is business as usual. Any talk of a strike affecting flights is premature and speculative."

Economic conditions had seriously impacted the airline, she added, and the company was losing money for a second successive year — something that had never happened before in the airline's long history.

"Costs have to be reduced in order to get back to profitability. A strike will not resolve anything and will only hurt staff and customers."

Separately, on Monday, BA said in a statement: "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."

The airline, which is due to report second-quarter earnings on Friday, is expected to post a big loss this financial year, after losing $595 million in the year ending in March.