British Airways and the BALPA pilots union have reached an “agreement in principle” on a new five-year contract and the deal will be sent to aircrew to vote on.
Although it appears that little progress has been made in the months-long negotiations between the airline and the union, BA was able to reach an agreement with ground staff and cabin crew earlier this year.
The agreement in principle is thought to address some of the voluntary pay reductions that pilots took during the pandemic in order to avoid severe job losses.
In a statement, an airline spokesperson noted: “The pay offer builds on a number of pay and reward changes made in 2022 to support colleagues throughout the business at a time of ongoing cost-of-living pressures”.
British Airways pilots last went on strike in September 2019 after tense pay negotiations with the airline ended in failure. After being forced to cancel about 2,325 flights over the course of two days, BA is estimated to have lost at least €137 million as a result of the strike.
After the strike, the parties went back to the negotiating table, and after a vote that was approved by the majority of BALPA members, an increase in pay of 11.5% over three years was eventually accepted.
