A pilots' union has withdrawn court action against British Airways which could have grounded the fleet of Europe's third-largest airline in the first such strike for nearly thirty years.
Shares in British Airways surged to close 4.7 percent higher at 212.5p on Thursday after the British Air Line Pilots' Association (BALPA) withdrew the action against British Airways (BA), which could have seen its members stage a costly strike.
A spokesman for BALPA -- which counts 3,000 BA pilots among its members -- said however, they do not necessarily consider this the end of the matter.
"We have withdrawn the court action," said BALPA spokesman Keith Bill, confirming it was no longer planning a pilots' strike. "But we may pursue other action against BA. That's to be decided," Bill said, without elaborating.
The union had gone to court because members were unhappy that pilots at BA's new OpenSkies airline will have different conditions to existing BA staff.
A potential pilots' strike had been the latest problem facing the airline, which faced a storm of criticism over lost luggage and cancelled flights when Heathrow's fifth terminal was opened at the end of March.
But it has in part weathered that storm, recently announcing profits had soared 45 percent in the last year.
BA said in a statement: "We welcome the withdrawal of proceedings by BALPA, which represents acknowledgement by the union that the creation of our subsidiary, OpenSkies, poses no threat to the jobs, pay or conditions of mainline British Airways pilots.
"The union accepted in court that its ballot in support of industrial action was time-expired and gave an undertaking not to pursue any future ballot on the same issue," BA added.
BALPA's members were concerned that OpenSkies, which will fly passengers from European mainland capitals to the United States, will use BA planes, support staff and managers but not BA pilots.
BA welcomed the news that the court action had come to an end just four days into an expected two-week trial, noting that tickets for the first OpenSkies flight from Paris to New York on June 19 went on sale on Thursday.
BALPA had asked the court to rule that its right to strike over BA's proposed OpenSkies service was not limited by BA's rights to establish operations in other EU states.
BALPA held a ballot earlier this year in which 86 percent of its 3,000 pilots at BA voted for industrial action.
The strike threat was not the first for BA, which a year ago narrowly averted a costly 48 hour strike by cabin crew by agreeing new working conditions.
