Court confirms end for PPF cap

LONDON - A legal victory by British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA), potentially worth a total of more than 35 million pounds for 170 union members, spells the end for the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) compensation cap.

The union launched its campaign for the removal of the cap when BMI and Monarch crews were left severely out of pocket when their pension schemes entered the PPF.

This week the Court of Appeal rejected the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) challenge to last year’s High Court decision (in BALPA’s favor), that the PPF compensation cap is unlawful on grounds of age discrimination.

It means the cap must be removed and affected members will be entitled to receive 90% of their expected pension under their original DB scheme with no cap applied.

John Moore, Head of Industrial Relations at BALPA, said: "This is an important victory for BALPA and great news for pilots, many of whom were expecting to lose more than 50% of their pension as a result of the PPF compensation cap."