British Airways pilot pay deal is ‘fair’, says IAG chief executive

BA’s parent company saw profits fall in the first half of the year

British Airways pilots could strike this month (Reuters)

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways’ parent company IAG, has called on the airline’s pilots to settle their pay dispute.

Nearly 4,000 pilots who work for British Airways and belong to the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) have voted overwhelmingly to reject a pay deal that BA says is worth 11.5 per cent over three years.

British Airways failed this week in its second court attempt to get the strike ballot annulled.

Mr Walsh, himself a former pilot for IAG subsidiary Aer Lingus, told the BBC Today programme: “I think the pay offer is a fair deal.”

He said that talks with Balpa to avoid industrial action will take place again today.

“Nobody wants the uncertainty that strike action delivers to the business.”

Were talks to break down, in theory a strike could begin as early as Saturday 17 August. But Balpa’s general secretary, Brian Strutton, has stressed that no date has been set for any stoppage.

The airline’s hand may be strengthened by a fall in first-half profits at IAG: the operating profit before exceptional items was down €145m to €1,095m (£1,002m) between January and June 2019.

The airline carried 31.5 million passengers, with an average profit per passenger of £28.

Mr Walsh said: “There’s clearly strong demand right across our network.”

On the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, the IAG boss said: “The concerns we have are with the impact on the UK economy. It’s that uncertainty we have to deal with.”

But, he added: “We’re not seeing any Brexit impact in our bookings.”