Aer Lingus assessing impact of pilot industrial action

Aer Lingus will continue its assessment of the likely impact of industrial action to be taken by pilots from next week.

The Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) yesterday served notice of an indefinite work-to-rule from Wednesday 26 June in a dispute over pay.

The action will see pilots refusing to work overtime, or any other out-of-hours duties requested by management.

They will also refuse to log on to online Aer Lingus portals or answer work phone calls outside of work hours.

Aer Lingus has described the action as entirely unnecessary.

The airline said it is continuing to assess the impact of the work-to-rule but that a significant level of disruption is inevitable with flight cancellations likely.

“IALPA have been absolutely determined to issue notice of industrial action, and in doing so, they are choosing, and deliberately choosing, to inflict significant damage on Aer Lingus customers and on other employees,” said Donal Moriarty, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer with Aer Lingus.

He added that Aer Lingus will now focus on minimising the impact of the industrial action on customers.

On Monday it was announced that IALPA members at Aer Lingus had voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action.

“We are now at a point where this dispute has escalated to indefinite industrial action by pilots,” said IALPA president Captain Mark Tighe.

“We are in this position because management have failed to provide us with a meaningful offer on pay that accounts for inflation and the sacrifices made by pilots to save Aer Lingus during the pandemic,” he added.

Talks between management and pilots at Aer Lingus ended without agreement on Thursday evening.

IALPA members have voted overwhelmingly to reject a Labour Court recommendation that pilots should receive pay increases totalling 9.25% as part of an interim settlement.

The figure was well below the 23.8% that the pilots are seeking.

Aer Lingus has described the level of increases being sought as exorbitant, outrageous and untenable.
It has accused IALPA of failing to engage in various independent processes responsibly and claimed that the union’s stance risks investment, growth and jobs in the airline.

The airline said it has lost the opportunity to secure two new Airbus aircraft from its parent IAG due to the uncertainty caused by the ongoing pay dispute.