The British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) today dropped its High Court bid to secure the right to take industrial action over the UK flagship carrier's proposed OpenSkies service.

Balpa took BA to the High Court to seek a declaration that its right to strike over the OpenSkies programme did not contravene European law, as claimed by the airline.

BA’s OpenSkies programme means the airline will operate flights from Europe to North America using a separate pool of pilots. The airline claims this is essential to manage costs but the pilots argue they are getting a bad deal.

John Hendy, QC, for Balpa told the court this afternoon that since litigation over the issue was likely to be extremely protracted, it would “plainly be madness [for Balpa] to embark on industrial action with the risk that, in the end, it would be declared unlawful.”

Mr Hendy said that if Balpa won the case, began a strike and then subsequently had the victory overturned on appeal it would face a damages claim from BA. “Therefore, it is clear that Balpa is not in a position to pursue the industrial action which it originally had in mind,” he said.

He added: “Balpa would be out of its mind to embark on industrial action in relation to this dispute, since BA would plainly seek an injunction to stop it or claim damages if it took place.

“We would be back in the same position as before.”

A decision on the issue was keenly awaited by trade unions across Europe. BA claims that a European Union law that allows any business based in the EU to open a business in another state prohibits its pilots from striking over its move to start flights from Europe.

But Balpa countered that its right to strike is intact because Article 43 of the EU treaty, the law concerned, does not apply to industrial action.

British Airways said: "OpenSkies poses no threat to the jobs, pay or conditions of mainline British Airways pilots. The union accepted in court that its ballot in support of industrial action was time-expired and gave an undertaking not to pursue any future ballot on the same issue. We are proud of the professionalism and high reputation of our pilots. We never wanted or sought a conflict with them."

OpenSkies will launch on June 19 operating between Paris and New York, taking advantage of new rules that have liberalised air travel between Europe and the United States. Tickets went on sale today.

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