Aer Lingus pilot strike fears intensify as pay talks end without agreement

It raises the prospect of strike action within just over a week that would impact tens of thousands of Aer Lingus passengers, including holidaymakers.

Talks between the two sides had recommenced on Thursday morning after also taking place on Wednesday. Thursday’s discussions ended about 8pm.

It’s believed there remains a significant gulf between the two sides in terms of their demands.

Aer Lingus has asked the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) to give the airline at least 15 days’ notice of any strike action in order to give it more time to help impacted passengers.

“Aer Lingus met with Ialpa again today for direct discussions with a view to reaching agreement on pilot pay,” said a spokesperson for Aer Lingus on Thursday evening.

“No meaningful progress was made, with Ialpa continuing to demand an unsustainable level of increase in pilot pay (up to 23.8pc) that was not supported by any increases in productivity or flexibility,” they added.

“Aer Lingus offered to continue to engage in direct discussions on meaningful productivity and flexibility proposals to enable increased pay,” according to the spokesperson. “Aer Lingus also offered to request the support of the Workplace Relations Commission in order to further explore solutions. Both of these offers were rejected by Ialpa.”

Pilots at the airline this week voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. Legally, the union has to give a minimum of one week’s notice before any industrial action is taken.

The carrier is pushing for productivity improvements and increased flexibility from its almost 800 pilots in return for agreeing to a higher pay increase than it has already offered.

As the threat of strike action increases, Aer Lingus has urged Ialpa to give it more time to make arrangements for affected passengers.

“Aer Lingus wrote to Ialpa on June 10 informing them that industrial action at this time of year would cause very significant disruption and have a devastating impact on customers and their families going into the summer holiday season,” said a spokesperson for the airline.

“In that context, and if Ialpa is intent on pursuing strike action, Aer Lingus asked Ialpa that advance notice of at least fifteen days be provided,” they added. “Such a level of notice which has been a norm where industrial action has been taken internationally in other airlines, would provide Aer Lingus with more opportunity to try to make alternative arrangements for a greater number of customers. Aer Lingus is awaiting Ialpa’s response to this request.”

It’s understood that a letter from Aer Lingus chief operations officer Adrian Dunne to Ialpa president Mark Tighe requested that any industrial action is taken in a way that “avoids inflicting unnecessary distress and suffering on our customers”.

Mr Tighe said on Wednesday that the result of the ballot showed that Aer Lingus pilots are “determined to secure a fair and reasonable pay rise after years of inflation”.

Mr Tighe said: “The result of this ballot shows the resolve and determination of our members to get a fair share of the large profits that Aer Lingus are making. Last year, they reported €225m profit – an increase of 400pc on the previous year.”

Aer Lingus has increased its profitability after incurring huge losses during the Covid pandemic.

With the busy summer season kicking off, Aer Lingus will be carrying about 40,000 passengers every day on its services. It’s likely about 95pc of passengers on any given strike day won’t get to travel.

The impact would be felt by its passengers in Ireland, across Europe and in the United States and Canada.