The threat of compulsory redundancies in Flybe has been lifted after the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) and the company came to an agreement, the union has claimed.

Exeter-based Flybe had threatened to make around fifty pilots compulsorily redundant across the UK, but 74 per cent of BALPA pilots in Flybe have voted to accept a pay cut of 5 per cent in order to make sure no pilot will be forced out of a job.

Jim McAuslan, BALPA General Secretary, said: "These pilots have each made a personal financial sacrifice to help the company, and, more importantly, to help each other.

"Flybe is facing strong headwinds and needs to make cost savings; we understand that and our own due diligence backed that approach. I am grateful to Flybe for working with us to conclude this deal.

"Flybe’s position as primarily a domestic operator means it is hit with a double whammy of the unfair Air Passenger Duty [APD].

"Passengers on domestic flights have to pay the tax on both the outward and return flights, rather than just as a departure tax for international passengers.

"So while Flybe pilots have made a personal sacrifice to assist the company, and while Flybe works to forge a way forward, it is disappointing that the Government has refused to help at all by reducing the punitive APD levels.

"We, once again, look to the Treasury to help British aviation, and the thousands of jobs in this industry. ‘Indeed, a recent report by PwC demonstrated that scrapping APD altogether would help create 60,000 jobs in the UK. It would certainly help the thousands of people who rely on a successful Flybe for their livelihoods."

In a statment, a Flybe spokesperson said: "Flybe have had a series of positive and constructive discussions with BALPA with the objective of achieving cost savings that will enable the airline to achieve sustainable long term profitability and protect long term employment.

"Flybe confirms that these discussions have produced a detailed agreement which is now being documented.

"Pending final signature of the agreement, Flybe looks forward to continue our campaigning with BALPA to persuade the government to deal with the manifestly unfair Air Passenger Duty, a tax that is particularly damaging to domestic aviation of the kind that millions of UK passengers rely on every year."