Thousands of non-managerial workers at Gatwick Airport are waiting to hear if they will lose a bonus equivalent to a week's pay.

Unions were today preparing to fight plans by British Airways to cut £37 million from workers' pay.

The airline is trying to reduce spending in the aftermath of the US terrorist attacks.

It has proposed not to pay an annual bonus, equivalent to one week's pay, and to withhold incremental pay increases next year.

Most of the 7,500 British Airways staff at Gatwick will forgo their Christmas bonus if the airline decides to go ahead with the cost-cutting plans.

British Airways is also calling for a pay freeze for next year in its struggle to get out of its present difficulties.

Talks with five unions are continuing at British Airways headquarters at Heathrow.

A BA spokeswoman for Gatwick said: "Most of the staff here are non-managerial and will be affected if the bonus is removed."

Earlier this month, the airline announced plans to shed 7,000 jobs in a cost-cutting exercise following the attacks in America.

The latest proposed cuts would affect 36,000 non-managerial staff nationwide, including cabin crew, engineers and administrative staff based in the UK.

The company's executives agreed last month to a 15 per cent pay cut while managers have seen their pay reduced by ten per cent in recent weeks.

BA chief executive Rod Eddington said: "These proposals are not made lightly but are an essential part of what we need to do during this very difficult period."

A BA spokeswoman said today: "We are looking at ways of safeguarding jobs and executives and managers have already agreed to pay cuts.

"None of this is set in stone. If conditions improve, we will look at these measures again."

But Ed Blissett, an official of the GMB Union, said: "Senior managers can afford to take a pay cut when they are earning hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

"It is a different story for our members, some of whom earn as little as £8,000. They cannot afford to reduce their pay."