British Airways pilots accept pay agreement to end strikes

Pilots from the BALPA union on Monday accepted a wage agreement with flagship carrier British Airways after months of dispute than included a historic two-day strike in September.

"A ballot of British Airways pilots closed today following the dispute over pay and terms and conditions," BALPA said in a statement.

"Members... voted nearly 9 to 1 to accept the final agreement," which was proposed by mediation body Acas and recommended by the union to its members, it added.

The airline had offered a wage increase of 11.5 percent over three years, but the pilots were asking for a bigger cut of profits, arguing that they had accepted wage cuts during the difficult years the company had endured in the last decade.

The pilots held a walkout in September for the first time in the airline's history, leading to the cancellation of 1,700 flights over the two days of strikes, disrupting the travel plans of some 200,000 passengers.

BA's Heathrow Airport hub was the worst hit.

The airline last month welcomed as a "positive step" reports that it had reached a pay agreement.

Airline giant IAG admitted that the strikes had hurt its performance in the third quarter.

Net profit sank nine percent to one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the three months to the end of September from a year earlier, said IAG, which also owns Spanish carrier Iberia and Ireland's Aer Lingus.