British Airways pilots threaten strike over new subsidiary

Members of the British Airline Pilots Assn. have started voting on whether to authorize a strike against British Airways over the airline’s plan to recruit flight crews from outside the company for its planned OpenSkies Airlines subsidiary. Votes are due by February 20. The new pilots for OpenSkies would reportedly be paid less than incumbent BA pilots. BA has said OpenSkies would operate a handful of 82-passenger 757s – with mostly business class seating – on new non-stop routes between the U.S. and continental Europe, starting in June with flights between JFK or Newark and Brussels or Paris. But the pilots’ group said in a statement that “OpenSkies will be using BA planes and they should be crewed by BA pilots.” It noted that union members have offered to accept lower pay and working conditions on OpenSkies flights, but that BA management rejected the proposal. The union charged that BA is using OpenSkies “as a Trojan horse to beat down the pay and conditions of its current pilot employees.” Although the company plans to operate OpenSkies with only six aircraft, “analysts say the venture cannot be profitable without many more planes,” the pilots charged.