British Airways pilots accept pay cuts, job losses negotiated by union

July 31 (Reuters) - British Airways pilots have accepted a
deal that will temporarily cut pay by 20% and eliminate more
than 200 jobs, the pilots' union said on Friday.

"The deal means that there will be temporary 20% pay cuts
reducing to 8% over two years and towards zero over the longer
term", British Airline Pilots Association said in a statement.

"Regrettably, there will still be some compulsory
redundancies which are currently estimated to be 270 although
that number will fall as mitigations take effect", the statement
added.

The ballot result was 85% to accept the deal on an 87%
turnout. There will be no "fire and rehire" of pilots, the union
said.

UK lawmakers have previously criticized BA, alleging that it
used a furlough "fire and rehire" scheme, a tactic used by
companies forcing employees to accept inferior terms.

Earlier this year, British Airways, which is owned by
International Consolidated Airlines Group, was seeking
to lay off a quarter of its pilots, according to a letter sent
to the union and seen by Reuters.

Global curbs imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic have
slammed air travel, putting the future of many airline companies
in doubt.

"We do not expect our company to return to 2019 levels of
business until at least 2023 and therefore we need to act now to
reshape our company for a very different future", British
Airways said in an emailed statement.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan
Grebler)