Holidaymakers have been given fresh hope that planned strikes could be averted after the pilots union suggested meeting British Airways for further talks.
Members of the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) are due to strike on September 9, 10 and 27, threatening huge disruption to flights.
They were expected to result in 850 cancellations, affecting 450,000 travellers.
But talks could take place as soon as this evening after BA said the union had indicated it wanted to meet the company for another attempt to resolve the pay dispute.
A BA statement said: "This is encouraging news for our customers.
"We have continued to urge Balpa to return to talks since they issued strike dates and are pleased by this welcome development."
In a letter to Balpa, Jason Mahoney of BA said: "We have already reached out to Acas to confirm that we are eager to talk, but to be clear this will be without any pre-conditions.
"I would suggest that we get together at your earliest convenience, perhaps later today or early tomorrow."
A Balpa spokesman said: "We've written to BA's chief executive Alex Cruz to meet on the basis that he said he wants to resolve the dispute.
"We want to hear what he's got to offer.
"So far he hasn't replied but we are aware that his staff have offered to meet at Acas with nothing to offer.
"If Mr Cruz has a breakthrough to offer we look forward to hearing from him."
Strike action comes after the airline lost its Court of Appeal bid earlier this month to block pilots from walking out in a dispute over pay.
They failed to reach an agreement with a pay rise offer of 11.5 per cent, spread over three years.
Balpa, which represents about 90 per cent of British Airways pilots, said 93 per cent of its members voted in favour of industrial action.
