'Pilot wins sex discrimination case

A pilot who was refused the right to work part-time to look after her baby has won her sex discrimination case .

Jessica Starmer, 26, said she would have had to resign from her £50,000 a year job if BA bosses did not cut her working hours so she could look after her daughter Beth.

Mrs Starmer, who has spent 800 hours a year flying shorthaul Airbus A320 flights from Heathrow, took her case to an employment tribunal which has now found in her favour.

Mrs Starmer, whose husband Simon is also a BA pilot, said: "Although I love every minute flying for BA I am also a working mum and need to work part-time to care for Beth."

She said: "Being both a professional airline pilot and a mother should in no way be incompatibile. It would have been a personal tragedy for me and my family if I was forced to leave BA."

Mrs Starmer, who won a BA scholarship while at Oxford and who has been working a 75 per cent rota, said it had been "extremely difficult" to find child care - she has called on her mother to help out.

She said; "I can often be away from home for up to three nights abroad. My job involves early starts where I am on duty at 5.20am and late finishes when I leave work at 11pm. My shift patterns are extremely irregular. It is quite possible for me to work 12 out of 14 days."

British Airways rigorously denied sex discrimination. It said its decision to deny Mrs Starmer's request to halve her working hours was made on safety grounds as it requires pilots with less than 2,000 hours flying time to work at least 75 per cent of a normal rota. Mrs Starmer had completed about 1,100 hours.

The airline also said it would be too expensive to have two part-time pilots covering Mrs Starmer's duties. It told the Watford tribunal she did not have enough flying time to qualify for 50 per cent part time working. The company will now launch an appeal in an effort to overturn the ruling.

Pilot's union Balpa, which backed Mrs Starmer throughout the case, said the safety rule was introduced in September - five months after Mrs Starmer's request was refused.

A union spokseman said: "It takes around five years to accrue 2,000 hours flying time - the point when BA will consider allowing you to work a 50 per cent rota.

"This is effectively telling women pilots they cannot have children for five years after joining." The ruling sent a shock-wave through the airline industry and sets a precedent both at BA and other airlines.

Mothers in similar positions are now expected to follow Mrs Starmer's request for part-time working.

Jim McAuslan, the general secretary, said; "This tribunal case is not just about helping working mothers who need to work part-time at the beginning or middle of their careers. More and more of our members are also likely to want to work part- time towards the end of their careers as part of flexible retirement arrangements."

Of the 2,980 BA pilots, 152 are women. Of those women 18 work a 75 per cent part-time rota. Eleven male pilots work a 50 per cent rota. No female pilots are currently employed working 50 per cent of the time.