British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, warned BA's 38,690 staff that the airline's worst first half results since privatization made further cost reductions "essential".

Britain's high court failed to award an injunction against BA cost-cutting measures Thursday, but the UNITE trade union, which is attempting to halt reductions in cabin crew levels, vowed to press ahead with a strike ballot that could bring the airline to a halt from December 21 onwards.

British Airways underlined how far its business model is out of kilter with its cost base this morning as it reported a pretax loss of £292 million in the six months to September 30, compared with a profit of £52 million ($86.4 million) for the same period last year.

The airline is now losing £1.6 million ($2.6 million) a day after failing to generate enough revenue during the usually profitable summer months - a key period for all airlines.