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A threatened strike by British Airways cabin crew could put the future of the airline at risk, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis warned.
He appealed to the Unite union to return to the negotiating table in an attempt to avert the industrial action planned to begin on Saturday.
Lord Adonis said: "The impact this will have will not only be deeply damaging on passengers, it will ... threaten the very existence of British Airways."
The union has said thousands of its members will walk out for three days from March 20 and for four days from March 27 after the collapse of talks aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions.
Lord Adonis told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "The stakes are incredibly high in this strike.
"I absolutely deplore the strike, it is not only the damage it is going to do passengers and the inconvenience it's going to cause - which is quite disproportionate to the issues at stake - but also the threat it poses to the future of one of our great companies in this country."
Lord Adonis continued: "It's totally unjustified, the strike, on the merits of the issues at stake.
"I do call on the union to engage constructively with the company at this late stage."
