Talks between Unite and the airline will continue to noon on Wednesday as the parties try to break a long-running row over jobs, pay and working practices.

Sky News understands it is far from certain the TUC-chaired discussions will yield an agreement but news of the extension raises hopes a settlement can be reached.

Union members twice voted in favour of industrial action, but Unite held off naming strike dates, preferring to continue with negotiations.

The union has until March 15 to announce industrial action, and will have to give seven days' notice of any strikes, although it ruled out any stoppages over Easter.

Unite has offered a 2.6% cut to basic and variable pay this year followed by a pay freeze in 2011.

BA reduced the number of cabin crew on flights to reduce losses and chief executive Willie Walsh made it clear that the changes would not be reversed.

BA maintains it has 1,000 volunteer staff ready to work as cabin crew in the coming weeks if a strike goes ahead.

Mr Walsh also revealed BA will hire 23 fully crewed planes from charter companies to help run flights from Heathrow in the event of industrial action.

Mr Walsh said he did not want a strike to go ahead, adding that he was willing to talk to unions about any concerns cabin crew workers raised.

However, he stressed changes made to onboard crew members would not be reversed.

The front page of the latest edition of BA's staff newspaper, BA News, has a photograph of Mr Walsh and a headline which reads: "Time For BA To Move On."

Mr Walsh said a strike by cabin crew will not ground the airline, adding contingency plans were in place to keep as many customers as possible flying.