BA on brink of three-year pilot pay deal to avert threat of strike

British Airways is on the brink of a long-term pay deal with its pilots, aimed at removing the renewed threat of strike action until at least 2027.

Sky News has learnt that BA, a subsidiary of the FTSE 100 company International Airlines Group, was applying the finishing touches to an agreement with BALPA, the airline pilots' union, on Thursday morning.

The three-and-a-half-year deal, which has been the subject of months of negotiation, expected to secure the agreement of BALPA, which would then ballot its members on the proposal.

One source said they expected the deal to be communicated later on Thursday.

Under the agreement, BA pilots will receive a 4% pay rise this year, backdated to June, followed by further uplifts of 1.5% in December, 2.5% next June, and a further 2% six months later.

That will then be followed by a 0.5% rise in March 2025, 2.5% in June of that year and another 2.5% in June 2026.

Pilots will also receive a one-off payment of £1,000 this November, according to a source close to the talks.

They will also participate in a new reward scheme based on BA's operating profit performance, which could trigger bonuses worth thousands of pounds.

The next pilot pay review will take place in January 2027.

The BALPA agreement comes weeks after unions representing about 24,000 other BA staff secured a 13% pay increase spread over 18 months.

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A BA spokesperson said: "We are pleased that we have now reached an agreement in principle for the pilot pay award 2023-27.

"BALPA will now ballot its members on the agreement in principle.

"The pay offer builds on a number of pay and reward changes made in 2022 to support colleagues throughout the business at a time of ongoing cost of living pressures."

BALPA told Sky News: "No deal has been signed."