Aer Lingus passengers face disruption as pilots begin work to rule in pay row

Pilots at Aer Lingus have started a work to rule which has disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of people over the coming days.

Dublin Airport was calm on Wednesday morning after the industrial action began after midnight with few delays and no cancelled flights after the first wave of departures.

The industrial action by members of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), which relates to pay, has already grounded 270 flights. However, the travel arrangements of many others who had planned to travel over the next week remain up in the air as a result of the dispute.

The Labour Court yesterday told the parties, after meeting them separately, that it would not aid them in ending the dispute at this time but said it would review the situation next week. Ialpa noted the court’s decision with its president, Capt Mark Tighe, stressing that industrial action would continue until the union’s concerns were addressed.

Under the work to rule, pilots will not operate outside of hours or accept changes to rosters, removing the flexibility that Aer Lingus needs to fly its busy summer schedule.

The carrier pledged to continue focusing on minimising disruption to passengers however there are fears that even slight delays connected to air traffic control problems, weather or any other issues could quickly lead to chaos at Dublin Airport.

As a result of the industrial action, the airline announced the cancellation of a further 50 flights on Monday and Tuesday of next week with most of the cancellations on short-haul business routes to airports in cities including London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt.

[ Aer Lingus cancelled flights: Full list of 270 services disrupted due to industrial action ]

Aer Lingus said it had decided to pull the 270 flights from its schedules over the next seven days “in order to continue to protect as many services as possible” from the impact of Ialpa’s industrial action. In a statement it said it was “continuing to offer a number of options to customers who may be impacted by the industrial action”.

[ Growing fears that Aer Lingus pilots’ work-to-rule could lead to chaos at Dublin Airport ]

The union is seeking a pay increase of around 24 per cent, which it argues is in line with what pilots at other airlines have received and is reasonable during a cost of living crisis, is planning to strike on Saturday, June 29th, between 5am and 1pm.

Capt Tighe on Wednesday accused the airline of moving from the negotiation phase to a “union busting phase.” He told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland the pilots did not want to be in this situation, but it was the “level of corporate greed” in Aer Lingus that had led to the current dispute.

“It’s simply untrue that Aer Lingus is underperforming with an operating margin of 9.9 percent, pretty much the same as British Airways and across other European airlines. This company is profitable. It made €225 million last year, forecast a massive increase in profits going forward. This is corporate greed.”

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said the situation at Aer Lingus was “very serious” and “damaging for the Irish economy, for our reputation, for tourism” and the lives of ordinary people.

“We’ve listened to spokespersons from both the airline and the pilots saying that they’re inviting each other to meetings, and yet meetings aren’t happening,” he said. “It is concerning that the Labour Court clearly arrived at the view, having met both on a bilateral basis, that there wasn’t a foundation for further engagement.”

Asked if the Government should intervene, Mr McGrath said the mediator in such disputes was the Labour Court and other “industrial relations machinery” as they have “tremendous expertise” in this area. He said he hoped it did not become a “protracted dispute” that causes an even greater level of damage.

[ Aer Lingus row intensifies as travel association accuses pilots of ‘cruel timing’ for strike ]

Irish Travel Agents Association chief executive Clare Dunne said things had “settled a little bit” since the weekend but just as her members “were sort of sitting back and saying ‘Okay, let’s take a breath’, we had these new cancellations”.

“We’re waiting, really, with bated breath to see what’s actually going to happen once the work-to-rule starts to see if there will be mass cancellations at airport gates and if there is going to be people sitting there, checked in [and] ready to get on the plane only to be told ‘sorry’.”

She said that was “definitely a possibility if there’s any sort of air traffic control issues or if there is any other reason an aircraft is delayed and the outbound pilots [then] say they can’t fly because if they do they will be out of hours because of the work-to-rule”.

Aer Lingus insisted that it remained available for discussions both directly and through the State’s industrial relations framework. It called on Ialpa to consider the damage the industrial action would cause for passengers, the company and the Irish economy.