The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) have said that a deal has been agreed to avoid compulsory job losses amongst pilot at easyJet.
The union said that 727 pilots were at risk of compulsory redundancy this year, and 60 have now left voluntarily.
A Balpa statement said, “There has been a huge community effort to do everything possible to reduce the need for compulsory measures which has resulted in 60 pilots leaving voluntarily and a further 1,500 opting for part-time work.”
Balpa general secretary Brian Strutton said, “This is a remarkable achievement which has only been possible because of three groups of people the Balpa reps, easyJet management who have worked with us constructively during this process, but most of all the easyJet pilots themselves who have volunteered in record numbers for part-time work and voluntary redundancy to help save their colleagues’ jobs.”
An easyJet spokesman said, “easyJet has worked constructively during the consultation with Balpa aiming to minimise compulsory redundancies despite the closure of three of our UK bases.
“We have worked closely with the union to find alternative options for pilots who were at risk of redundancy and as a result we are pleased to confirm that we were able to offer part-time and seasonal contracts as well as re-location to our other bases to all pilots from the closing bases, alongside accepting 60 requests for voluntary redundancy.
“We are waiting to receive the last few signed contracts in the next couple of days and remain hopeful that this means that when the process is completed, there should be no need for compulsory redundancies.”
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