British Airways pilots on six-figure salaries are set to ruin the holiday plans of thousands after threatening strike action over the summer.
The airline, which has offered out inflation-busting pay rises, is facing walk outs as early as the start of August after talks, which have dragged on since November, finally broke down.
The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), which represents around 3,500 of BA’s 4,500 pilots, is set to start a month-long ballot of its members next week.
It could be joined by the Unite and GMB unions, representing other BA employees from cabin crew to engineers, which have also been involved in the talks. The three unions represent 40,000 BA staff in total.
British Airways pilots, with six-figure salaries, are set to ruin the holiday plans for thousands after threatening strike action over during August
Unite and GMB have yet to ballot their members.
But a protest by pilots alone would be enough to paralyse Britain’s flag carrier, grounding huge numbers of flights at the height of the summer.
Fresh details of the generous pay packages enjoyed by BA’s pilots emerged last night – fuelling further anger over the potential strike.
One Tory MP said it was hard to see how pilots could possibly justify ‘ruining’ the summer for so many holidaymakers.
BA is renowned for paying well, with some captains earning upwards of £200,000 a year.
Meanwhile long-haul captains and co-pilots are understood to receive an average basic annual salary of more than £150,000.
BA has offered pilots (pictured) pay rises worth 11.5 per cent over three years but the British Airline Pilots Association described the offer as ‘too little too late’
By contrast Ryanair said last year that its captains at Stansted earn around £135,000 on average.
Safety regulations introduced to ensure pilots are not over-tired restrict them to working a maximum of 900 hours a year – or just over 17 hours a week – with the clock starting as soon as they arrive for duty at the airport.
But BA pilots receive generous perks, including an hourly allowance whenever they are flying and heavily discounted flights for themselves and their family.
Along with cabin crew and engineers, BA has offered pilots pay rises worth 11.5 per cent over three years. This includes a 4 per cent hike this year – double the current rate of inflation.
But Balpa described the offer as ‘too little too late’.
Talks between the airline and Balpa became heated after the airline announced in February that it had made a record profit of more than £1.7billion last year
BA pilots receive generous perks, including an hourly allowance whenever they are flying and heavily discounted flights for themselves and their family. BA pilots also stay in more luxury hotels than the cabin crew (pictured)
It is demanding its members also receive a share of the profit, as well as a bigger pay rise.
Talks became heated after the airline announced in February that it had made a record profit of more than £1.7billion last year.
The prospect that pilots on such high salaries are threatening to strike over pay will be infuriate workers who have saved up all year for their summer holiday.
Chris Philp, MP for Croydon South, who has campaigned for tougher anti-strike laws, said: ‘£150,000 a year for 17 hours a week of flying is already a huge amount of money.
‘I’m struggling to understand how BA pilots could possibly justify strike action which would ruin the summer holiday plans of tens of thousands of families who have been saving hard all year for their annual break.’
Safety regulations introduced to ensure pilots are not over-tired restrict them to working a maximum of 900 hours a year – or just over 17 hours a week – with the clock starting as soon as they arrive for duty at the airport
British Airways said its pay and benefits for pilots ‘are among the best in the industry’, and pointed out that it receives around 1,000 job applications from pilots from other airlines each year.
The airline said it is ‘extremely disappointed’ that Balpa ‘has raised the prospect of a ballot for industrial action’, and urged the unions to return to the negotiating table.
Brian Strutton, general secretary of Balpa, disputed the pay figures and said pilots receive around £100,000 on average.
He said: ‘Pilots have no argument with passengers and we will be doing everything we can to negotiate a resolution and avoid disruption – but it’s now in BA’s hands to reciprocate.’
A Unite spokesman said it would be having talks with BA in the coming days to ‘discuss next steps’, which could include a ‘consultative ballot on any revised pay offer or a ballot for industrial action’.
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Being a BA pilot is regarded as one of the most desirable jobs in the European airline industry and BA receives applications from 11 experienced, highly-qualified pilots for every vacancy that comes up.
So to squarely aim a wrecking ball at the holiday plans of ordinary travellers by striking during the early August rush will outrage anyone planning to get away for a much-needed break.
Three major unions – Balpa, representing the pilots, Unite and GMB – have turned down what appears on the surface to be a generous 11.5 per cent over three years –and hold a strike ballot.
As well as the anxiety which strike plans are already causing, travellers will be both mystified and outraged that pilots, with salaries and bonuses worth many times the UK average annual pay package, are seeking to hold BA and its customers hostage.
In addition, industrial action at this time of the year, when airlines earn most of their money, could destroy the very profits and financial stability that BA already has achieved in recent years.
BA, like all flag –carriers, faces hugely strong competition on European and long-haul flights.
On shorter routes it competes with ‘no-frills’ carriers such as easyJet and on long-haul, faces competition from subsidised airlines such as Emirates among others.
A series of strikes against BA at the peak time of the year could do long-term damage to job security and investors in the company’s parent International Airlines Group (IAG).
Pilots at BA are some of the most highly-paid professionals in Britain, with the average long-haul captain earning £150,000 a year for flying a maximum of 900 hours a year.
Some of the more experienced pilots are known to earn as much as £300,000 a year with bonuses and allowances, which is ten times the current average annual pay packet in Britain of £29,000 a year.
Even on the shorter routes, BA pilots earn far more than their counterparts with an average base salary of £87,499 with additional allowances of as much as £10,997.
At present, consumer prices are increasing at close to 2 per cent a year so the BA management offer represents almost twice that over the three-year period.
It is my understanding that the current dispute has been escalated by a new younger leadership at the pilots’ union Balpa.
Many of the more established union figures oppose the escalation and are ready to take the package on offer.
It is also thought that the more lowly-paid Unite and GMB members are less gung-ho about industrial action than their richly paid pilot counterparts.
The average pay for the rest of the workforce at BA is thought to be just under £38,000 a year.
Under the current BA leadership of Alex Cruz, the airline has been criticised in recent years for cutting back on services as it has sought to compete better on price with discount airlines.
Last year BA parent IAG, which owns BA, Iberia and Aer Lingus, made profits of £1.73bn. Pilots and staff are clearly demanding a bigger share of the cake.
The over-arching boss of IAG, Willie Walsh, a former pilot, has transformed the airlines under his control by refusing to be cowed by the power of unions.
He is furious at the pilot-led action at a time when planes are filled to capacity so causing maximum pain. His response will be fascinating.
