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High Court rejects British Airways injunction to stop pilot strike

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On Monday, an overwhelming majority of British Airways pilots voted in favour of industrial action in the ongoing pay dispute.

The exact terms of the industrial action had not been announced, pending a High Court ruling on an injuction British Airways filed based on potential weaknesses in the balloting processes.

The hearing began at 10.30am on Tuesday morning.  Around 4pm The Hon Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing DBE ruled the ballot WAS legal and valid.

British Airways BA 777X 777 9X

Sky News said that:

“The airline argued in court that there were flaws in the way Balpa had organised the ballot – including over the indication of when strikes were likely to start.

Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing ruled the union would be “more likely than not” to establish the ballots were properly issued at any full trial.”

In a statement, BALPA said:

The British Airline Pilots Association has said it is pleased it has successfully defended an application for a High Court injunction brought against it by British Airways in relation to its strike ballot of members.

Today the judge presiding over the case determined that the pilots union had issued its ballot correctly and therefore the ballot result could stand.   

BALPA General Secretary, Brian Strutton, said:

“While we’re pleased with the judge’s decision, we’re frustrated that time has been wasted. BA could have spent this time coming back to the negotiating table instead of trying – and failing – to tie us up in legal knots.

“This delay will now continue with BA seeking to appeal against the Hight Court’s decision.

“As a result it’s now likely the talks scheduled with ACAS on Friday will have to be postponed.

“We ask that BA thinks hard about why 93% of our members feel so strongly about taking strike action.

“The company itself has admitted that even one day of strike action would cost most than what our pilots are asking for, so the ball really is in their court here, to look after their pilots and ensure the hardworking public get to continue their holidays as planned.

“Although legally clear to do so, we have still not set any strike dates to give BA one last chance to commit to negotiating on pilots pay and rewards with us at ACAS later this week.”

We are now faced with another delay as British Airways appeals the decision, which is likely to take place on Friday or Monday.  Unless there are genuine grounds for this, it is likely to achieve nothing other than to cause further grievances to the pilots.  It is worth noting, however, that when Thomas Cook took similar action against BALPA in 2017 it was not allowed to appeal, so the evidence is potentially stronger this time.

Any industrial action will still require 14 days notice.  BALPA has stated that it will wait until the appeal is heard, so it seems likely to be mid August before we see anyone walking out.

PS.  Don’t forget the industrial action by Heathrow Airport staff continues, regardless of the pilot strike.  This will happen on Friday 26th / Saturday 27th July, Monday 5th / Tuesday 6th August and Friday 23rd / Saturday 24th August.

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Comments (80)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Bootlace says:
    23 Jul23 July 20:20

    Hmmm ” reading between the lines” there is absolutely no basis in fact to your statement, you have no idea what intelligence assessments BA get.

    • Shoestring says:
      23 Jul23 July 20:30

      Bootlace – I can of course be completely wrong in my assessment, let me/ us have more information and I guess we will refine the assessment

      however, we can safely assume that there is no general threat to planes flying into/ ex Cairo

      • Roberto says:
        23 Jul23 July 21:05

        More likely a threat against airline staff or their hotel IMHO.

        Much more simple to achieve , lower cost and just as hard hitting.

  • kurtcobain says:
    23 Jul23 July 20:50

    I have LHR-GVA booked on Avios CW on the 6th August returning 15th. Seems there will be pilots to fly, but will there be staff to check in, security etc? I have read all the threads, not being lazy but cant seem to find answer whether to turn up for flight or just cancel due to airport chaos. We have 3 kids, 2 very young.

    • The Original David says:
      23 Jul23 July 22:17

      You’ll have a much better idea after the first HAL strike on Friday – that will set a precedent for what to expect. So for now, just wait, and have a beer in the sunshine 🙂

  • Jamie says:
    23 Jul23 July 23:31

    Balpa represent pilots at BA, I believe cabin crew are in BA. Anyway nice to know what little respect you have for the hard working and highly skilled professionals who get you to your destination safely. Interesting to see the pressure unions, particularly in the US have put on Boeing over the 737 Max. For my own safety (as well as being a point of principle) I want cabin crew and pilots to be happy in their workplace and treated fairly, unions help ensure that. Workers have a right to withdraw their labour, it’s a basic human right.

  • Alan says:
    24 Jul24 July 00:24

    Impressed how quickly the High Court judgement came down. Hope the appeal is quick too, dragging things out just doesn’t help!

  • Henry Young says:
    24 Jul24 July 04:23

    Why I never fly BA – it’s always a lottery whether you’ll actually be able to take your flight as booked.

    • Simon says:
      24 Jul24 July 05:30

      Are you suggesting that BA alone has had or will have industrial action and disruption?

    • Spurs Debs says:
      24 Jul24 July 06:09

      That’s a really dumb thing to say.

    • Clarence says:
      24 Jul24 July 06:58

      That’s a stupid thing to say. We have used BA many times over the last 15 years and never had a cancellation. I am sure many thousands of people are the same as us

    • Andrew says:
      24 Jul24 July 08:43

      Depends on where you are flying to.

      I’ve certainly had more than my fair share of cancellations on BA domestics over the last 25 years. They’re always the first to go if there are problems at Heathrow.

      But travelling internationally, I can’t remember the last time I was cancelled.

  • Robert says:
    24 Jul24 July 06:30

    So what are the expected implications of the industrial action by LHR staff? Travelling to LHR this Friday and I’m wondering what chaos to expect…

    • paulm says:
      24 Jul24 July 11:33

      dont know about BA but for VS they are switching some of the JFK flights to LGW on the 26th.

    • The Jetset Boyz says:
      24 Jul24 July 13:26

      Strikes by 4,000 Heathrow airport workers on Friday and Saturday have been called off so they can vote on a new pay offer.

  • Saxon says:
    24 Jul24 July 06:40

    I’d imagine Ba is doing everything it can with the legal process to push back the earliest possible strike date. They’re already into mid August, with another 2 or 3 weeks they are into September and out of the peak school holiday period. Anyone want to take a guess at how much less a strike in September would cost versus August?

    Or am I too cynical?

    • Spurs Debs says:
      24 Jul24 July 07:17

      I’d say you were right on the money. The pilots chose August as it would majorly impact more people and cause more chaos and BA doing their best to delay it or stop it till it’s quieter in September.

      • Rebecca says:
        24 Jul24 July 09:49

        And I thank them for that! I’m meant to be flying 16 – 18th to Glasgow and 20 – 22nd to Dublin. Annoyingly, they were trips arranged as tier point runs which have now become actual full trips with hotels and concerts booked so will be annoying if I have to book other flights to go and then have to book BA ones later in the year. I realize this is a first world problem though!

    • Andrew says:
      24 Jul24 July 08:46

      It certainly pushes it out of the school holiday season. (Scottish Schools return around 21st August).

      • Rob says:
        24 Jul24 July 08:55

        It costs massively more in September. There is no business travel in August, no-one paying £4k for a New York flex return.

  • Matt B says:
    24 Jul24 July 07:50

    13th August at the earliest, guess who I’d flying with BA that day…. Tempted to risk a cheap 1 way whilst we still can….

    • Nick says:
      24 Jul24 July 08:01

      Also bear in mind that IF there was a strike on the 13th, BA MAY have to cancel some flights beforehand for positioning reasons.

      • Matt B says:
        24 Jul24 July 08:44

        EasyJet 1 way from a closer airport with a better time only £43 each so all booked. Can add bags later if the strike does happen. Only booked with BA originally as it was a reward and we wanted the CE baggage allowance.

        • Matt B says:
          24 Jul24 July 09:07

          Google flights was wrong wife just said it was only £36 each, happy with that as backup

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