The Scots pilot suing for racism after being told: 'Your country's a welfare state paid for by the English middle classes'

By Ryan Kisiel
Last updated at 1:55 PM on 18th March 2009

A Scottish pilot is suing British Airways over claims he was racially abused by his English middle-class colleagues.

Captain Douglas Maughan alleges he was sent offensive letters and called a 'Jock' who should go back to Scotland.

He claims BA had a 'canteen culture of racism' and that one captain referred to Saudi passengers as 'rag-heads'.

In a flap: Captain Douglas Maughan claims he was 'victimised racially' at BA, for whom he currently flies the Boeing 777, pictured

The trouble started when Mr Maughan, 54, defended Labour's economic record in a letter to the staff magazine BA News in 2005.

He said an English pilot, who he had never met, started sending him racially abusive letters and emails about his views.

In one three-page handwritten letter on notepaper from the luxury Singapore hotel Raffles, the pilot said: 'Come Separation, will all Jocks f. off to that Welfare State (paid for by English middle classes)??? Please say yes.'

Mr Maughan is taking BA, the self-proclaimed 'world's favourite airline', to an employment tribunal on the grounds he was victimised racially.

He said he regularly tried to alert senior management to the abuse, but was told it was a private matter between two individuals.

He added: 'There was a time when we set off for Los Angeles with a large party of Saudis on board, who had joined us at Heathrow direct from the VIP lounge.

'In the cruise, my captain suddenly embarked on an extraordinary rant about "ragheads".

'He got the word out twice before I stopped him by explaining he was going to be short of a first officer for the return sector if he carried on.'

Mr Maughan, who lives in Edinburgh, said he was on another trip when a flight officer complained to him that there were too many Asians living in Britain.

'The captain turned to me and said: "I don't suppose there are many of them up your way."

'I replied: "Well, there's my wife." After that, they had the decency to fall silent,' he said.

'There is a canteen culture of racism, especially between pilots, where they use gross racial terms.'

The pilot, who has 29 years' flying experience including 16 years with BA, said it is only because the airline failed to react to his accusations that he is taking it to a tribunal.

Yesterday a judge at the employment tribunal in Watford dismissed three out of the four grievances Mr Maughan had claimed against BA.

The judge ordered him to pay £4,400 legal costs for the work BA did in defending the three allegations at the pre-hearing case review.

But he ruled the claim he was victimised racially would be heard at a full employment tribunal on June 11.

Mr Maughan still works for BA and has flown throughout the world on Boeing 777s. He returned from a seven-day trip to India on Sunday.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Maughan said: 'As a captain, if I don't take this stand against racism within BA, then how can you expect ethnic minority staff working in lower levels of the company to do so if they feel they are being racially abused?'

He added: 'I want British Airways and its chief executive Willie Walsh to address this issue and put a stop to it.'

A BA spokesman said it would 'vigorously defend' the remaining part of his claim.

'Any reports made by staff about racist behaviour are taken extremely seriously and investigated as a matter of priority,' he added.

It comes as a BA check-in worker's fight to wear a crucifix is taken to the Appeal Court.

Judges are to decide whether Nadia Eweida, 57, was treated unfairly when BA suspended her in 2006 for wearing a necklace of the Christian symbol while at work.

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