24Hr emergency line +44 (0)20 8476 4099
Join Balpa

New General Secretary gets to work

The new General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots’ Association has said he is looking forward to representing the piloting profession.

Brian Strutton takes over the leadership role at the British Airline Pilots’ Association from Jim McAuslan who is standing down after 13 years’ service.

Brian Strutton said, “BALPA is a highly successful union and I am absolutely delighted to be joining as General Secretary and working with my colleagues to build on its tremendous strengths

“BALPA gives pilots a voice, representing them in negotiations with employers, and in the corridors of power. I have immense respect for pilots and the skilled and important job they do, and I am so looking forward to working with them.

“I have always been impressed by the flight safety aspect to BALPA’s role, and the important part the association plays in highlighting flight safety concerns, such as around pilot fatigue, and the practical problem-solving attitude it takes.

“BALPA is hugely respected within the industry, and within trade unionism, in no small part due to the work done by my predecessor Jim McAuslan. Jim has been enormously successful and remained popular with pilots, staff and the industry as a whole. He has set a high bar, and I will do my very best to meet it.”

BALPA Chairman, Captain Brendan O’Neal, said, “We are looking forward to welcoming Brian into the BALPA family and working with him to tackle the challenges faced by UK pilots. We would like to thank Jim McAuslan for his dedication to BALPA over the last 13 years.”

Jim McAuslan said: “It has been the privilege of my life to represent pilots for so many years, and I will miss it. But I have every confidence that Brian Strutton will continue to take BALPA from strength to strength and I wish him all the best as he takes the helm.”