BA Pilots Voice Concern over the Launch of Transatlantic Subsidiary

A union representing British Airways Plc pilots has described the carrier’s plan to start a subsidiary named OpenSkies as a “Trojan horse” aimed at reducing pay and conditions for staff.

BA pilots say the initiative will lead to the airline cutting the salaries, terms and conditions of existing BA pilots, and replacing them with cheaper alternatives.

All of BA’s 3,200 pilots in the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) are voting on a campaign of industrial action over whether there will be “open access” to jobs between the airline and the service.

OpenSkies will fly to the U.S. directly from Paris or Brussels beginning from June under a new US-European Union air services treaty, starting with one aircraft. The carrier will expand to six planes by the end of 2009, Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh has said.