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Pilots at British Airways (BA) have voted to go on strike in a dispute over the airline's new subsidiary transatlantic service OpenSkies.

The pilots voted overwhelming for the industrial action claimed the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA).

Eighty-six per cent of the 3,000 members voted to go on strike, with a 90 per cent turnout.

A statement posted on BALPA's website said that the strike action would be the first for almost 30 years and would "effectively ground BA worldwide".

The dispute centres around BA's proposed subsidiary airline, OpenSkies, which will use pilots from outside the company at a lower pay rate.

"We have seen it happening around the world," said Jim McAuslan, general secretary of BALPA.

"BA pilots are determined not to let the same thing happen to them and their families. This is why BALPA has drawn a line in the sand."

"BA pilots are saying loud and clear that they will not tolerate what has happened elsewhere," he continued.

"What BA pilots want is to have one pilot community for both the mainline and the OpenSkies subsidiary, with the same personal standards, equal opportunities for pilots to move from mainline to OpenSkies and from OpenSkies to mainline, fair promotion prospects and a safeguarding of BA mainline pilots pay and conditions by the company giving us binding agreements."

In response BA claimed that no date had been set for the industrial action and as such it did not mean that the strike was inevitable.

An official statement concluded: "We understand that any threat of industrial action is extremely unsettling for our customers. We will do everything we can to minimise the disruption to our customers."

Reports suggest that the strike action may take place over the Easter period, causing disruption for millions of people.