British Airways pilots to ballot for strike action

British Airways pilots are to be balloted over strike action in the next few days, following a dispute over employment terms at a new transatlantic subsidiary, a pilots' union said on Monday.

The British Air Line Pilots Association (BALPA), which represents most of BA's 3,200 pilots, says it is unhappy that staff at the OpenSkies subsidiary will have different conditions to existing staff.

BALPA said the announcement was due to be made on January 17, but was delayed due to the accident at Heathrow involving a BA plane last week.

"There are fears, borne out by BA's intransigence, that BA's real aim is to start an outsourcing programme that will eventually force down BA pilot conditions," said BALPA General Secretary Jim McAuslan.