A trade union representing 12,000 flight attendants at British Airways Plc called off a strike ballot scheduled for this week to consider a new offer on pay.

The airline, Europe’s third-biggest, made the offer on June 25 in an effort to prevent the resumption of strike action in a 17-month dispute over staffing levels and future wages.

Tony Woodley, secretary general of Unite, the union representing the cabin crew, said the strike ballot would be postponed in an interview broadcast on Sky News today.

It would be “suicidal and inexplicable” if the new offer was not put to Unite members, Woodley said.

British Airways offered to increase allowances for existing crew once new recruits join their ranks later this year, drop plans to reduce benefits to fund higher staffing levels on some flights, and lift salaries for two years starting in 2011.

The proposals didn’t address the removal of travel perks, the suspension of strikers and the use of volunteer crews, issues that Unite says must be resolved before a deal on a wider cost-cutting plan can be made. Walkouts have forced British Airways to ground flights on 22 days since March 20.

“We welcome this statement from the Unite leadership,” British Airways said in an e-mailed statement. “We believe our offer is fair and reasonable and provides a genuine opportunity to end this dispute.”

Liberal Democrat lawmaker Vince Cable, now business secretary in the coalition British government, said Unite’s decision was “very good news and it’s long overdue.”

“It’s very, very important that we get it resolved and resolved quickly,” Cable said in an interview today on the British Broadcasting Corp.’s Andrew Marr program.