After the first-ever strike action by pilots in the carrier’s history, British Airways (BA) has come to a preliminary agreement with the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) which represents over 4,000 of the carrier’s pilots. Commenting on the situation, BALPA said in a statement: “We can confirm that BALPA, BA and ACAS have put together a new pay and conditions proposal and, subject to final checks, BALPA expects it will shortly be consulting its 4,000 BA members on them.”
The deal was put together under the guidance of ACAS – the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service – and, according to the Financial Times, as part of the agreement, BA has agreed to insert an inflation protection clause to its previous pay offer of an 11.5% rise over three years. BA is a part of the International Airlines Group (IAG) and has, in addition, offered improvements to working conditions, rostering and flight bonuses as part of the deal. The strike, which took place in September of this year, was responsible for grounding 1,700 flights and reportedly cost BA in the region of €137 million (US$151 million.)
