Hopes of an end to the British Airways swipe card dispute rose last night after a series of top-level talks paved the way for a fresh attempt to reach a deal.

Leaders of the three trade unions involved in the row held separate discussions with BA's chief executive Rod Eddington and there was renewed optimism the deadlock could be broken.

However, there was a fresh threat of industrial action at Heathrow airport when the Transport and General Workers Union announced it would ballot hundreds of ground staff who work for a service company in a separate dispute over jobs.

Peace talks in the BA conflict are expected to resume with the help of the conciliation service Acas in the next few days following a meeting this morning at the TUC between leaders of the three unions.

Sir Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, Kevin Curran, general secretary of the GMB, and Paul Talbot, assistant general secretary of Amicus, held private talks with Mr Eddington at BA's Heathrow headquarters throughout yesterday afternoon.

Mr Eddington said at the end of the meetings there was a "good chance" an agreement could be reached by the end of the week.

But he admitted for the first time that, with hindsight, BA had underestimated the strength of opposition from its check-in staff to the new swipe card system.

Hundreds of workers staged a wildcat walk-out in protest at the new electronic system, which led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and travel chaos for more than 80,000 passengers.

Mr Eddington admitted BA had to do more to address the concerns of the staff before a deal could be reached.

He said the company was now focused on finding a speedy solution to the dispute, which has cost the airlines tens of millions of pounds.

Tuesday July 29, 2003