High Court approves BA deal with Airways Pension Scheme trustees

clock • 1 min read

Justice Antony Zacaroli has approved the settlement deal between British Airways (BA) and the trustees of the Airways Pension Scheme (APS).

The High Court approval of the deal yesterday follows a court hearing earlier this month looking at the details of the deal, which plans to gradually return the indexation of pensions in payment to align with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) by 2021, with back payments made for the last six years. A further £250m contingency payment will also be unlocked for APS' sister scheme.

The approval of the deal ends the court battle over the trustees' decision to unilaterally award themselves sole power to award discretionary increases in 2011, and then the grant of a 0.2% discretionary increase to members in 2013.

The case had been set to head to the Supreme Court after the High Court and the Court of Appeal had returned judgments contradictory in favour of both BA and the APS trustees, albeit on different legal points.

In a statement, the APS trustees said they were now making arrangements for eligible pensioner members to receive a one-off lump sum of up to 4.6% and catch-up increase payments of up to 1.7% and 0.7% in the December 2019 pension payroll.

The trustees said they will provide full details of the payments and individual statements to all eligible members when payment is made in December - noting that individual statements will show the new rate of pension from 8 April 2019 as well as the amount of any lump sum and arrears of pension due.

It said the trustees would also include a summary and FAQ document to assist members with any questions they might have about the discretionary increase payments.

 

See also: 

BA awaits court blessing on settlement for six-year dispute

British Airways: How the discretionary increase case unfolded

More on Defined Benefit

DB transfer take up near record lows, LCP says

DB transfer take up near record lows, LCP says

Most recent data for Q4 2023 shows average quotation stood at £143,000

Jasmine Urquhart
clock 15 March 2024 • 1 min read
FTSE 350 DB aggregate surplus experiences slight fall in February

FTSE 350 DB aggregate surplus experiences slight fall in February

Mercer analysis finds surplus has remained broadly consistent over a two-year period

Martin Richmond
clock 14 March 2024 • 2 min read
Partner Insight: You choose the endgame, we'll build the bridge

Partner Insight: You choose the endgame, we'll build the bridge

Buyout, run-on or both? Whatever your scheme’s preferred destination, LGIM will help you construct the way forward

By Lisa Purdy, Head of DB Solutions Distribution and Mathew Webb, Head of Endgame Solutions at LGIM
clock 13 March 2024 • 5 min read
Trustpilot