Aer Lingus leases aircraft and crews to reduce disruption from pilots’ industrial action

Aer Lingus is leasing aircraft and crews to aid it in combating industrial action by pilots, it has emerged, as Labour Court talks to resolve the long-running pay row between the pair continued on Monday.

Hopes of a breakthrough in the pay row rose late on Monday as both sides confirmed that the court had decided to use statutory powers to intervene and has called a formal hearing for Wednesday.

Donal Moriarty, Aer Lingus chief corporate affairs officer, described engagement with the court on Monday as constructive. He said the company would be attending on Wednesday.

However, the Irish Air Line Pilots Association (Ialpa) president, Capt Mark Tighe, said that Aer Lingus had not changed its position and claimed that the company attempted to introduce new elements to the talks.

He confirmed that the pilots’ union would participate in Wednesday’s hearing. He added that its industrial action would continue.

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus confirmed it had hired aircraft and crew from other operators, a practice known as “wet leasing”, to fly some services while pilots continued industrial action that has forced the airline to cancel almost 400 flights.

The company hired one Boeing 777 to fly from Dublin to Chicago, while it brought in two Airbus A320s to serve European destinations including Greek islands and Malaga, popular with Irish sunseekers, along with the Czech capital Prague.

[ Aer Lingus dispute: Will my flight take off this week? ]

Aer Lingus did not say from which organisations it is leasing aircraft and crews. Emails from the airline to passengers show that Spanish-based Privilege Style Airlines is flying Dublin-Chicago while Danish Air Transport (DAT) provides the European services.

The Irish airline leased the aircraft and crews late last month and the contract runs up to Sunday, July 14th, it confirmed yesterday.

According to one email seen by The Irish Times, Aer Lingus told passengers on a Dublin-Chicago flight next Saturday, July 6th, that their booking remained the same, but different configurations within the aircraft would require seat changes.

It added that the flight had no business class or on-board wifi. Also, the in-flight entertainment requires passengers to stream films and TV shows through their own devices from a wireless network.

Aer Lingus said two weeks ago that it could lease aircraft and take other steps to ease the impact of pilots’ industrial action.

So far, the pilots’ work to rule and an eight-hour strike on Saturday prompted the company to cancel 392 flights up to Sunday, July 7th, upending more than 60,000 passengers’ travel plans.

Ahead of Monday’s Labour Court meeting, Donal Moriarty, Aer Lingus chief corporate affairs officer, confirmed that the company was weighing further cancellations beyond Sunday, July 7th, and would decide later this week.

[ Aer Lingus cancelled flights: Up-to-date list of services disrupted due to industrial action ]

The meeting was the third time that the court has dealt with the dispute.

Pilots are seeking pay rises of 20 per cent-plus to compensate for inflation over the last four years, saying this is just €5 million a year more than what the company has offered.

Aer Lingus says it cannot give pilots increases greater than the 12.25 per cent agreed with cabin and ground crews without more productivity.

Ialpa members halted work between 5am and 1pm on Saturday, when about 500 of them marched and picketed at Dublin Airport.