BTW we have had on average 2.5% in the last 10 years. There is plenty that NATS will have to get us to agree to in the years to come and do you think that over 15 years we won't get above rpi+0.5%? Even once and we're worse off.
Well I do think there is scope for some loopholes here... If you look back at that record of average 2.5%, how much of it was straight 'cost-of-living' and how much of it was reward for working practices and the like that were rolled up into the annual deal?
Perhaps in future, increases in direct relation to major changes in working and resultant cost savings, could be divorced from the cost-of-living rise - and so not applicable for the RPI + 0.5% cap.