Court of appeal hands down judgment in British Airways v Williams and others

Supported by the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) the case concerned the level of holiday pay to which pilots are entitled.

Under the Working Time Regulations, when workers take annual leave their holiday pay is comparable to pay whilst at work.

However, in the civil aviation sector, the Court held that under the European Aviation Agreement and the Civil Aviation Working Time Regulations, when pilots take their annual leave they are only entitled to be paid their basic pay and not their flying pay or time away from base allowance.

This means that when pilots take annual leave they are worse off than when they are working.

Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of BALPA, said 'We won in the Employment Tribunal and again in the Employment Appeals Tribunal. We are obviously disappointed with the decision and are considering an appeal to the House of Lords.'

The case will impact on many thousands of pilots and members of cabin crew in the civil aviation industry.

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 06-Apr-09

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