Pilot union drops BA legal battle

BA said that the strike would have cost it £100m

Airline pilots' union Balpa has dropped a legal battle for the right to strike over plans by British Airways to start a new subsidiary airline.

The row centres on BA setting up a subsidiary airline based in mainland Europe, flying directly to the US.

Balpa wanted to be able to strike in protest that pilots at the new airline, OpenSkies, would be hired on different terms and conditions.

But its lawyers told the High Court a prolonged legal war was unaffordable.

They added it would be "madness" if they did go on to strike, as BA could take the union to court.

'No threat'

BA has argued a strike would be illegal because the Treaty of Rome prohibits industrial action by unions in one country against companies established in another.

The carrier said that the new business would fail if it extended the terms of its UK worker agreements to the subsidiary, because of the cost and complexity involved.

A strike would have cost BA about £100m, as well as bringing disruption to customers, it added.

OpenSkies "poses no threat to the jobs, pay or conditions of mainline British Airways pilots", BA said after Balpa ended its litigation

"We are proud of the professionalism and high reputation of our pilots. We never wanted or sought a conflict with them," the airline added.

The first OpenSkies flight, from Paris to New York, is scheduled for 19 June.