British Airways loses legal bid to halt pilot strikes; plans to appeal

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways has lost a legal bid to stop its pilots from going on strike over pay in the busy summer holiday season but said it plans to appeal the decision.

The pilots' union has yet to set any dates for industrial action.

Pilots at BA, which is owned by IAG <ICAG.L> voted for strike action on Monday, and the airline's bid to bring a High Court injunction to block strike action failed on Tuesday.

"Although legally clear to do so, we have still not set any strike dates to give BA one last chance to commit to negotiating on pilots' pay and rewards with us," Brian Strutton, general secretary of the BALPA union, said in a statement.

BALPA says that BA should share more of its profits with its pilots, and on Tuesday the High Court found that the union had issued its ballot correctly and therefore the result could stand.

British Airways said it would take the case to the Court of Appeal and that BALPA had said they would not schedule any strike action until it was heard. A source said that the appeal was expected to be heard at the end of this week or early next week.

"We are very disappointed with today's decision," the airline said in a statement. "We will continue to pursue every avenue to protect the holidays of thousands of our customers this summer. Our proposed pay offer of 11.5% over three years is fair."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison)