Court of Appeal rejects British Airways bid to stop pilots' strike action

The Court of Appeal has rejected the bid of British Airways to stop its pilots from taking strike action in a dispute over pay, according to media reports. BALPA General Secretary, Brian Strutton, said: "The Court of Appeal has today rightly dismissed BA's attempt to injunct this industrial action on a technicality. The British Airways Pilots Association (BALPA) has announced that it is announcing the strike dates as it wants to resolve this matter through negotiation. BALPA and British Airways will meet at Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) today to give a last try to resolve this by negotiation.

BALPA wants to resolve this matter through negotiation so we are not announcing strike dates. Instead, we have called on BA to hold further talks at ACAS and they have agreed to meet at ACAS today and for the rest of this week for one last try to resolve this by negotiation.

— BALPA (@BALPApilots) July 31, 2019

BALPA is required by law to provide British Airways with 14 days' notice of any proposed strike action.

British Airways Pilots Association (BALPA) members strongly voted for strike action in a dispute over the pay with a vote of 93% in favor of industrial action on a 90% turnout.

British Airways went to High Court in an attempt to stop the strikes that are supposed to happen in the summer holidays but failed to get a High Court injunction to stop the strikes by its pilots. BA claimed the strikes are designed to cause "the maximum disruption" and could cost the airline up to £40 million a day.

BA applied for an interim injunction to prevent strike action by pilots based at Heathrow and Gatwick, arguing that Balpa's ballots did not comply with trade union law.