U.K. Pilots Union Considers Legal Action Over Contract Workers

The union representing U.K. pilots is considering legal action to stop airlines using pilots on temporary contracts, it said.

So-called contract pilots are asked by airlines to set up their own company so that they can be employed as contractors to the business on “lower terms and conditions than permanent employees,” the British Airline Pilots’ Association said in an e-mailed statement today. Permanent employees from EasyJet Plc (EZJ), the U.K.’s biggest discount airline, have expressed their support for their non-permanent colleagues, BALPA said.

“We will be considering all legal avenues to stop this practice,” Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the union, said in the statement. “This unfairness needs to be tackled across the industry.”

The association said it plans to work “airline by airline,” putting pressure on the industry regulator to crack down on the practice.

To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dick Schumacher at dschumacher@bloomberg.net