Aer Lingus cancels further 80 flights amid pilot pay row

Aer Lingus has announced 80 additional flight cancellations from Thursday 11 July to Sunday 14 July as a result of industrial action by pilots.

The airline said the cancellations will enable it to protect as many services as possible and that impacted customers will be contacted regarding refund and rebooking options.

Details of the services impacted are on the ‘Travel Advisory’ page of the Aer Lingus website.

On Wednesday, Aer Lingus announced 76 flight cancellations between next Monday and Wednesday.

This came on top of 392 cancellations resulting from a strike last Saturday and an ongoing work-to-rule since last Wednesday.

A Labour Court hearing aimed at resolving the ongoing pilots pay dispute was held on Wednesday and both sides are awaiting a recommendation from the court.

Representatives from Aer Lingus and the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) attended the meeting at which they presented their cases and answered questions from the court.

On Monday, the Labour Court met with the two sides for more than eight hours before informing the parties that it would exercise its right to intervene in the dispute under the Industrial Relations Act.

The Labour Court has asked that there be no escalation of the dispute, but the current work-to-rule by IALPA members is remaining in place.

On Saturday, Aer Lingus pilots, who are members of IALPA, took part in an eight-hour strike.

The pilots are seeking a pay rise of up to 24% to take account of inflation since their last wage increase in 2019.

However, Aer Lingus is seeking agreement on productivity and flexibility in return for any pay increases that go beyond the 12.25% agreed with other groups of workers at the company.

Last Thursday, management and union representatives met face-to-face for five hours, but the talks broke down without agreement.

IALPA said it had offered to move from its 24% pay demand but accused the company of failing to reciprocate.

Last Friday, the Labour Court issued a fresh invitation to the two parties to attend Monday’s meeting.

The development saw IALPA back down from a plan to escalate the industrial action.