Pay-out for pilot after ‘sex during flight’ claims

A tribunal has ruled that a Virgin Atlantic captain rumoured to have taken "40 winks" and had sex with an air stewardess during a long-haul flight, was wrongly sacked.

50-year-old Mike Lawson was said to have had sex with the air stewardess during a flight to Hong Kong in 2015, while two of his co-pilots lay unconscious in the flight deck. The father of two was also said to have let that stewardess fly the plane with its 200 passengers while he took a break.

The hearing in Croydon, South London, heard that the comatose officers were rumoured, wrongly, to have been poisoned by the cabin crew in revenge for being made redundant.

Bosses at the airline fired Mr Lawson after he failed two flight simulation exercises, fearing that he was not fit to fly. The hearing was told he had never failed such an exercise before, and he claimed the process had been designed for him to perform poorly.

Employment Judge Brian Doyle found the tests were unfair and awarded the veteran pilot of almost 20 years £90,323 in compensation, ruling he had been sacked over the "unsubstantiated rumours".
 

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