Twitter feed of BALPA - British Airline Pilots' Association.
The UK's trade union for professional pilots.
The voice of UK pilots: Safety, Strength, Unity.
Nov 4, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
If the Government wants a functioning airline industry to survive and power our economic recovery we need to see action now. 6 things: #SaveAviation1. A commitment to end the ban on leisure travel by 2 December.
2. Sector-specific financial compensation ring-fenced away from shareholders.
3. A 12-month waiver of Air Passenger Duty.
4. A moratorium on any further job losses to prevent long-lasting damage to the sector.
Sep 25, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
BREAKING NEWS: easyJet pilots and management have achieved a breakthrough in negotiations meaning that no pilots will be made compulsorily redundant. (1/4)
balpa.org/Media-Centre/P…
In June easyJet’s estimate was that 727 pilots were at risk of redundancy. But there's been a *huge* community effort to do everything possible to reduce the need for CR which has resulted in 60 pilots leaving voluntarily and a further 1,500 opting for part time work. (2/4)
Aug 7, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
1/4:Just under 250 BA pilots have now been formally notified they are at risk of redundancy. This is desperately sad news and anyone saying BALPA has done a good deal should remember, as our GS has said, that every redundancy is a tragedy.
2/4: BALPA is still in negotiations with BA and we expect the final number of compulsory redundancies to fall further as the mitigations we have negotiated continue to take effect.
Jul 23, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A ballot of BA pilots has opened on a job protection package.
BALPA is recommending its members accept this package as the best that can be achieved in these incredibly difficult circumstances. (1/4)
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Brian Strutton, BALPA General Secretary said: "It is hugely disappointing that during our extensive negotiations British Airways would not accept the full package of mitigations we put forward which would have avoided any job losses at all, and at no cost to BA... (2/4)
Jul 10, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
It is unnecessary and wrong that easyJet is intending to use sickness as a stick to beat its safety-critical staff. #SafetyCulture
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easyJet has in the past rightly encouraged pilots to report in sick or fatigued if they are unfit to fly. Now to turn around and say that doing the right thing means you may lose your job could have a chilling effect on the safety culture in easyJet from now on.
Jun 30, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
We are shocked at the size of potential pilot job losses in easyJet which equate to nearly 1-in-3 of easyJet pilots in the UK: 727 pilots. (1/4)
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easyJet paid £174m out to shareholders, got agreements to furlough staff to protect cash, got £600m from the Government, has boasted of having £2.4bn in liquidity, and ticket sales are going through the roof so fast they cannot get pilots back off furlough quickly enough. (2/4)
Apr 2, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Brian Strutton, BALPA General Secretary: "Pilots and staff across the whole airline industry are struggling through this crisis... (1/5)
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"...Either they are being furloughed, having to take drastic pay cuts to get through this, and/or they are still flying in very difficult and stressful circumstances."(2/5)
Mar 5, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
We must save as much of Flybe as possible.
Flybe performed an extremely important function connecting the nations and regions of the UK, providing employment and an economic stimulus in many areas and providing onward connections to other airlines (1/5)
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The airline was especially important to airports in Exeter, Newquay, Southampton, Birmingham, Cardiff, Belfast and the Channel Islands. (2/5)
Mar 5, 2020 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
Flybe collapse: BALPA disgusted at betrayal and broken promises
"A year ago Flybe was taken over by new owners with promises of funding for a bright future. (2/7)
Sep 23, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Brian Strutton, BALPA General Secretary:
"The hopes of all Thomas Cook employees that their airline could survive has been brutally quashed this morning as they wake up to find they have no job...
"While detailed plans to repatriate passengers have been carefully put together and Ministers have and will continue to claim the credit for that, the staff have been stabbed in the back without a second's thought...
(2/4)
Sep 12, 2019 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
We understand that BA has started cancelling its operations on the 27th of September today outside of the 14 day window to avoid having to compensate affected passengers.
(1/4)
#BAstrike
BALPA set a gap between the first and second periods of strike action to give BA time to work with us to settle this dispute with their pilots.
balpa.org/Media-Centre/P…
A day of strike action will cost BA around £40m. Three days will cost in the region of £120m. The gap between BA’s position and BALPA’s position is about £5m. Our proposal remains on the table should BA wish to reach agreement prior to strike action.
Ryanair has blown the chance of finding a resolution before this week’s strike action.
balpa.org/Media-Centre/P…
1/
Brian Strutton, BALPA General Secretary: "Ryanair pilots in the UK have a serious dispute with their company which will not be resolved by raising legal technicalities in the High Court...
2/4
Aug 15, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
We're calling on @Ryanair management to meet for conciliation talks at ACAS to resolve the current dispute. UK-based pilots employed by Ryanair and represented by BALPA are due to take strike action starting next Thursday, 22nd August unless this dispute can be resolved.
(1/4)
Our detailed claim was submitted in March 2019 and since then none of list of items it contains – including pensions; loss of licence insurance; maternity benefits; allowances; and a fair, transparent, & consistent pay structure – has been progressed at all.
(2/4)
Aug 7, 2019 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Decades of Ryanair refusing to deal with unions has resulted in two things. 1. A management that apparently doesn’t understand how to work with unions. 2. A company that doesn’t have a number of standard agreements that any union would reasonably expect in any workplace.
1/
That is why our claim includes many issues including pensions; loss of license insurance; maternity benefits; allowances; and a fair, transparent, and consistent pay structure.
2/
Aug 6, 2019 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Pilots are highly-trained and ready to handle emergencies of all kinds, but when one happens, the only thing that matters is whether the job gets done.
(1/5)
In this case, the pilots and crew appear to have done an excellent and highly-professional job of getting this aircraft safely onto the ground in very difficult circumstances, and safely evacuating all the passengers with no reported serious injuries.
The Court of Appeal has rejected British Airways’ attempt to injunct BALPA’s proposed industrial action on a technicality. The legality of BALPA’s ballot has been affirmed.
balpa.org/Media-Centre/P…
BA’s attempt to defeat the democratic view of their pilots in court, rather than deal with us across the negotiating table, has sadly wasted huge amounts of time and money that could have been put into finding a peaceful resolution.
Jul 22, 2019 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
BA pilots have voted strongly for industrial action. The vote was 93% in favour of industrial action on a 90% turnout. (1/6)
Brian Strutton, BALPA Gen Sec: “This strong result demonstrates the resolve of BA pilots, and shows BA that it must table a sensible improved offer if a strike is to be averted… (2/6)
Jul 17, 2019 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
BALPA to ballot Ryanair members for possible industrial action
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BALPA has tabled a detailed pay and conditions claim to try and resolve many outstanding areas of concern for pilots on issues such as pensions; loss of license insurance; maternity benefits; allowances; and a fair, transparent, and consistent pay structure.
Jul 12, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
BALPA General Secretary, @BrianStrutton: "Hopefully this announcement signals the beginning of the end to the uncertainty that has been hanging over Thomas Cook.
(1/4)
“I strongly support the company’s moves to find new investment in order to ensure a strong and successful future for the tour operator and the Thomas Cook airline.
(2/4)
May 7, 2019 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Helicopter pilots in CHC Scotia have voted in favour of taking industrial action in a dispute over pay: 94% YES vote for strike action, and a 100% YES vote for industrial action short of a strike on a 77% turnout.
Despite months of negotiations, the company have failed to offer a pay deal acceptable to our members, which is why we took the decision to ballot for industrial action.
