The threat of a strike by British Airways pilots over the Easter holiday period appeared today to have receded despite confirmation that BA pilots had voted by an overwhelming margin for stoppages in a row over pay and conditions.

The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) announced that 86 per cent of its members at BA had backed strike action in a dispute over the company's new subsidiary carrier Open Skies.

The union claims that pilots in the new airline will earn less and work under worse conditions, charges which BA deny.

Within three hours, however, and before any strike dates were named, the two sides agreed to take the issue to a "conciliation process with an independent third party".

"The decision was reached at a positive meeting between BA and Balpa at the airline’s headquarters near Heathrow. Both sides expressed their strong desire to achieve a peaceful outcome," BA and Balpa said in a joint statement.

BA's 3,000 pilots are up in arms over the company’s plan to create a subsidiary airline with cheaper operating costs. Balpa is concerned that Open Skies pilots could be used to reduce the pay and conditions of flight crew at the main airline.

The new airline is supposed to start flying between continental cities and the United States this summer.

Despite the strike vote, Balpa backed off from naming any strike dates, realising that BA would immediately lose millions of pounds in bookings if it did so.

Jim McAuslan, the Balpa general secretary, said: ‘The ballot result shows the strength of feeling of our members about the implications of the creation of OpenSkies.

‘We have no quarrel with the travelling public and have always maintained that these issues could be resolved through negotiation rather than confrontation.’

Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said that the airline was proud of the professionalism and reputation of its pilots and had never sought conflict with them.

"We welcome the progress made today and are confident that a settlement can be achieved through conciliation which will protect our customers from the possibility of disruption," Mr Walsh said.

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