BRITISH AIRWAYS V APSPTL: The limits of trustee decision making

On 5 July 2018, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the long-running dispute between BA and the trustee of its Airways Pension Scheme (“APS”). BA’s appeal against the decision of Mr Justice Morgan was successful. The majority of the Court of Appeal (Lewison and Peter Jackson LJJ) agreed with BA that the Trustee had acted for an improper purpose in exercising a power of amendment to confer on itself a power to grant discretionary pension increases and exercising that power to grant an increase of 0.2% on pensions at a time when APS was in deficit (and against BA’s wishes). The majority made clear that the role of the pension scheme trustees was to administer the employer’s scheme, and not to take on the role of “paymaster”, by deciding what benefits pensioners should receive.

On 17 July 2018, Michael Tennet QC and Michael Ashdown, who appeared for the successful appellant, will be giving a concise and practical exposition of the case, its implications for Trustee decision making in relation to both unilateral and bilateral powers, and for the relationship between Trustees and Employers more generally.

Please note, this event is free of charge to attend and spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please email seminars@wilberforce.co.uk to confirm your place.