In a major victory for workers’ rights, the Court of Appeal has today upheld a landmark ruling that a pilot flying for Ryanair was a worker and an agency worker— not a self-employed contractor. The decision sets an important precedent that could influence employment practices across aviation and other industries.

The Court’s decision confirms that pilot Jason Lutz was a ‘worker’ of the aviation employment agency Storm Global, as well as their ‘agency worker’ hired out to work for Ryanair, when he had been wrongly classified as self-employed. This means he, and others hired in the same way, are entitled to key rights and protections like holiday pay, sick pay, and proper rest breaks.

The outcome in this case, which was supported by the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA), is expected to have far-reaching consequences for employers across aviation, gig economy platforms, delivery services, and other sectors reliant on flexible labour. Companies will now have to review how they classify and treat freelance or contract workers hired out to work for third parties.

Amy Leversidge, BALPA’s General Secretary, said: “This is a landmark legal victory for not only Jason Lutz and our member pilots, but agency workers all across the UK aviation industry and beyond.

“For too long, aviation workers have been denied fundamental rights through complex and ambiguous employment arrangements. The Court of Appeal’s unanimous judgement sends a powerful message: labels like ‘self-employed’ cannot be used to sidestep employment protections.”

This ruling follows a string of high-profile victories for gig economy workers — including the 2021 Supreme Court decision against Uber and the 2018 ruling against Hermes — where drivers and couriers were also found to be workers, not self-employed contractors as the companies had claimed.

Alice Yandle, Partner at Farrer & Co, which represented BALPA in court, said: “For the first time, the Court of Appeal has addressed how worker status and agency worker rights apply in the context of long-term assignments.

“This outcome reflects our ability to deliver results in complex, first-of-their-kind cases that push the boundaries of existing legal frameworks.”

Using third parties to recruit pilots and classifying them as self-employed is a common practice in aviation and this ruling is expected to open the door to several more claims against employers from pilots who may be entitled to back pay.

Amy Leversidge added: “The consequences of this ruling go to show that companies trying to use the fiction of a service company to deny workers their rights would be better off ensuring that legal protections and workers’ rights are provided from the start.”