Greedy BA pilots want more dosh
BA faces pay fight with militant pilots
BY ANGELA JAMESON of the Times
BRITISH AIRWAYS could be held to ransom by militant pilots when it begins negotiations over pay this autumn, as a worldwide shortage of pilots begins to bite.
The airline could be forced to increase pilots’ pay by 10 per cent, three times the pay rises that its other employees can expect, when the current two-year pay deal runs out this September.
BA’s 3,300 pilots have seen their foreign colleagues receive pay rises of between 10 and 40 per cent in the past few days, as international airlines have moved to quell a wave of industrial action. Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong carrier, and Iberia, the Spanish flag carrier, have both been hit by industrial action this week as their pilots have tried to exploit their strong negotiating position to win huge pay increases.
During the last round of pay talks the pilots came close to striking, before finally agreeing a settlement that many thought was unsatisfactory.
Industry analysts yesterday suggested that BA would have to table an offer of at least 10per cent to prevent pilots from taking industrial action.
A spokesman for the British Air Line Pilots Association (Balpa) said that his members would have noted the high pay rises being achieved overseas. “It could be a very tough fight. Pilots are very much aware of their worth to the company,” the spokesman said.
Airlines have been hit by the global economic downturn, at a time when they have also had to cope with high fuel costs and demands for substantial pay rises by pilots and others with strong bargaining power. Industry analysts consider that recent pay deals struck by Lufthansa, United Airlines and Delta have been over-generous to the pilots.
Mike Powell, airlines analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, said: “Pilots have a lot of power. They can stop an airline overnight and they can wipe out a year’s profits in weeks, especially at the moment, when passenger numbers are down.”
A spokeswoman for BA confirmed that pay negotiations with pilots would start this autumn, but denied that there was any link between the talks and the worldwide recruitment crisis that is enabling experienced pilots to name their price. BA recruits about 200 staff each year, 120 of which come from their own training scheme.
Industry observers believe that experienced flyers could be tempted overseas by the attractive packages being offered by foreign carriers, such as Emirates, which offers starting salaries for pilots of about £56,000 tax-free. BA co-pilots, by comparison, can expect to earn just £24,000 in their first year, according to Balpa. From that salary they must pay back a quarter of the cost of their training, during their first five years with the company.
A BA captain with 20 years’ flying experience can expect to earn a salary of about £110,000. This is supplemented by a variety of accommodation allowances and travel benefits.
In comparison an experienced pilot with Emirates can probably hope to make £100,000 a year, tax-free. The airline also offers free accommodation and cheap or free loss of licence insurance, which is considered a perk.
Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong carrier, which imposed a 9 per cent pay settlement on its pilots this week, also pays housing allowances and private school fees for pilots’ children.