Bristow pilots too old
'Too old' helicopter pilots unfairly sacked
Feb 10, Press & Journal
by Alan Young
Five experienced helicopter pilots have won claims of unfair dismissal.
An employment tribunal has unanimously ruled that Bristow Helicopters should pay compensation to the pilots, who were made redundant solely on the basis of age after the firm lost major contracts in 1999.
James Senior, of Kintore; Robert McGregor, of Newtonhill; Julian Allen, of Banbury, Oxfordshire; Hans Holle, of Kintore; and Ian Parfitt, of Keig, near Alford, had all worked at the firm's Aberdeen base.
The tribunal panel dismissed the Bristow claim that the dismissals had been fair on the grounds of redundancy. It said no reasonable employer could have used age as the sole basis for redundancy. The amount of compensation is still to be decided.
The ruling followed hearings in October, November, and last month.
Last night, Captain Holle, 56, who worked for Bristow for more than 25 years, said he was delighted with the tribunal's decision.
"I'm certainly delighted after having to wait for such a long time," he said. "The selection criterion was age – but it wasn't really age. It was a cost-saving exercise as well."
Capt Holle, originally from Germany, said he was now retired.
Bristow is one of the largest helicopter companies in the world, operating 250 aircraft across the globe. It is mainly concerned with offering services to the offshore industry from its Aberdeen base.
The company has about 150 pilots, the tribunal heard, along with operational and administrative staff.
In November, 1998, staff were told that BP Exploration, one of Bristow's major clients, had decided not to renew its contract, due to expire at the end of July. It had been awarded to Bond Helicopters.
Contracts with Mobil and Amoco were also subsequently lost, leading to a need for redundancies.
The normal Bristow retirement age for pilots is 58 and the company decided that age would be the sole criterion in pilot redundancies.
In August, 1999, captains Senior, Allen and Holle were informed they were on the compulsory redundancy list. Bristow claimed Capt Parfitt had opted for voluntary redundancy and Capt McGregor had still to be approached.
The employment tribunal decided later that captains Parfitt and McGregor had been dismissed by Bristow. Seven compulsory redundancies were confirmed on September 9, 1999.
Capt Allen, 54, who was also in the RAF until joining Bristow in 1990 as a helicopter instructor, had said voluntary redundancy was not a realistic option for him. He had felt reasonably secure because of his age and the fact that Bristow had spent £10,000 relocating him to Aberdeen and retraining him. He described Bristow's approach as arrogant.
Capt Holle, who had worked for the firm since 1974, said he had not considered himself at risk of redundancy because of his years of service.
He said he had been unaware of the possibility of voluntary redundancy and felt that he had been treated unfairly.
Capt McGregor, 57, suffered a back injury in July, 1999, and was signed off work. He did not return to Bristow before his dismissal. He said he had had no option but to take voluntary redundancy but had told Bristow it was neither fair or reasonable.
Capt Parfitt, 57, also ex-RAF, had requested early retirement earlier in the year. But Bristow had treated it as a request for voluntary redundancy.
The tribunal ruled that the cases of captains McGregor and Parfitt were different from the other three.
"The absence of warning and consultation with captains McGregor and Parfitt and the failure by Bristow to consider alternative employment for them before they were dismissed was not in accordance with equity ... and rendered their dismissals unfair," it said.
It added: "No reasonable employer could have used age as the sole criterion and, accordingly, the dismissals of Capts Senior, Allen and Holle were also unfair."
The tribunal invited Bristow to agree compensation with its former employees.
ends