Whilst BASSA is attempting to negotiate, BA management are messing around trying to start discussions about the new fleet and new contracts. If the situation was so urgent, the priority would be mitigating job losses now, not worrying about recruiting new crew on new contracts in the future. The fact this is on BA's mind, demonstrates that they are not serious about saving jobs and reducing costs to get BA through the downturn.
Of course threatening compulsory redundancies on the one hand whilst preparing the way to recruit new staff on new contracts creates an atmosphere of distrust. BA management appear to be evermore erratic in dealing with the immediate priorities affecting the business.