Civil Aviation Regulations give effect to ECJ ruling on pilots’ holiday pay

In British Airways plc v Williams and ors, the Supreme Court has held that the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004 can be interpreted so as to give effect to a judgment of the European Court of Justice whereby airline pilots’ holiday pay is not restricted to basic pay but must include flying pay supplements. In this regard, it would be for the employment tribunal to calculate holiday pay by assessing average payments made over a representative reference period. The tribunal would also need to determine whether a ‘time away from base’ allowance was intended exclusively to cover the pilots’ expenses, and should therefore be excluded in its entirety from the holiday pay calculation.