FACTBOX-BA cabin crew strike - what's it all about?

March 18 (Reuters) - The Unite trade union has called out British Airways BAY.L cabin crew on a three day strike from Saturday, with a four day walk out scheduled for March 27, although both the company and the union say they are still open to talks to prevent the industrial action.

Here's why they are planning to strike:

* British Airways says it needs to carry out heavy cost cutting to adapt to a slump in demand caused by the global downturn, volatile fuel prices and increased competition from low-cost airlines. It wants to save 62.5 million pounds ($95.49 million).

* The company cut long-haul flight crews from London Heathrow to 14 staff from the previous 15 in November.

* It also wants three-quarters of its cabin crew to accept a pay freeze this year.

* Last year, 3,000 staff switched to part-time working or took voluntary redundancy, equivalent to the loss of 1,700 positions.

* Unite says the dispute is not about pay, but about the cut to flight crews, which it says imposes contract changes and will affect customer service.

* The union said on March 11 that it offered instead to take a 2.6 percent pay cut and make changes to work practices to save BA about 20 million pounds. (for latest story click on [ID:nLDE62H1O6] for a timeline, click on [ID:nLDE62A0LM]. (Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; editing by Philippa Fletcher)