British Airways' future is in the hands of negotiators who are to meet this week to try to resolve the row over swipe cards, the airline's chief executive said.

Rod Eddington, who will meet union leaders during the next few days, said he was confident of resolving the row, which led to travel chaos last week and threatens a summer of disruption at Britain's biggest airports.

The chief executive was due to meet Sir Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union today, and leaders of Amicus tomorrow.

He admitted the strike by check-in staff, which led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights at Heathrow and delays for more than 80,000 passengers, had been a "real setback".

He told the BBC One programme Breakfast With Frost it was critical he was now in the centre of moves to resolve the dispute.

Talks between the two sets of negotiators would resume tomorrow, following his meeting with the general secretaries, Mr Eddington said.

"The future of BA is in the hands of the negotiators.

"It is important for all of us to reach a sensible and rapid conclusion," he said.

He said it was essential the third union involved in the row, the GMB, was also involved in the talks, adding: "We have to sit down and find a way to alleviate the concerns some of our staff have about the swipe cards."

It was important the airline modernised but he said he wanted to take staff with him.

"We have done that over the past two years and we have made terrific progress but we have some way to go."

Mr Eddington maintained BA tried to give staff the right mix between their private and working lives, despite union claims the company was trying to introduce unacceptable changes to working practices.

Despite the problems of the past week, Mr Eddington said he would deal with trade unions again if he was setting up a new airline. But he warned the airline industry was fragile and he said there would be some failures during the next year.

He said: "BA will not fail - we will succeed - but we have no God-given right to succeed."

BA needed a competitive cost base to be able to compete with the no-frills airlines, Mr Eddington said.

He conceded many passengers were angry with BA over the delays but was confident they would return to the airline.

The unions also had a responsibility to end the dispute.

He would not comment on reports BA will next week unveil losses of £70 million for the three months to June.

Meanwhile, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has been asked to intervene in the dispute and act as a mediator.

Monday July 28, 2003