‘If LIFO is not applied by airlines can anybody tell me what powers the Unions have to overturn such a decision?’
LIFO should not be applied by the airlines as a sole method of selecting people for compulsory redundancy. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 and the Equality Act 2010 changed the ‘rules’.
BALPA would not try and overturn a LIFO decision as in BA and Virgin LIFO is their policy. BALPA would agree to LIFO. Therefore it would be up to an individual, or a group of individuals to take action against both the airlines, who would be the main culprits and should be first in the firing line and then BALPA who would be supporting them.
I would suggest a good first step would be to get assurances from both BALPA and BA/Virgin that they are going to abide by the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 and the Equality Act 2010.
If they both say they will then monitor the situation very closely. If both duck and dive, as I suspect they will, get a group together and fire a warning shot across their bows that legal action will follow if they do not follow the legislation.
As someone said above, use a reputable London law firm to send the first missile with the treat of going nuclear later on.
Remember it is your job that is at risk and selection for compulsorily redundancy must be done fairly and in line with current legislation.