Dozens of Aer Lingus flights are to be cancelled as a result of industrial action

If the indefinite work-to-rule being started by pilots next Wednesday continues, then the number of cancellations will only increase.

Despite this, an intervention by the Labour Court or Workplace Relations Commission this weekend is considered highly unlikely, because the airline and the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) are described as being “poles apart”.

Aer Lingus is now scrambling to get additional seat capacity in an effort to re-accommodate passengers who will be hit by the action. It is trying to lease aircraft on a short-term basis to help it cope with the unrest. But the airline is unlikely to know until early next week what type of extra capacity it can secure.

During the summer, Aer Lingus operates around 1,550 flights a week, or approximately 220 a day.

It is now attempting to hire aircraft on so-called wet leases, where the aircraft are rented with a crew. The airline is trying to lease wide-body jets – the type of aircraft usually used on long-haul routes – to re-accommodate more passengers.

Due to regulatory issues, Aer Lingus aircraft cannot be flown by non-Aer Lingus pilots.

The airline, part of the IAG group that also owns British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, is also working with those carriers and other airlines in an effort to minimise the disruption to Aer Lingus passengers.

It also understood to have disruption agreement with arch-rival Ryanair, which may also be used in an effort to alleviate the severe impact the industrial action will have.

However, with the summer travel season under way, most airlines are close to fully booked. That means Aer Lingus might be able to re-accommodate only a relatively low number of affected passengers.

Aer Lingus carries around 40,000 passengers a day during the busy summer season, with 14,000 of those on transatlantic services and the remainder on its short-haul routes across Europe.

Any action shouldn’t affect Aer Lingus Regional flights, however. They are operated by a separate company, Emerald Airlines, under a franchise agreement. Aer Lingus Regional pilots sealed a pay deal earlier this year.

Aer Lingus chief corporate affairs officer Dónal Moriarty said the airline remained open to direct talks with Ialpa, or with facilitated negotiations through the WRC or the Labour Court.

But the state’s industrial relations trouble-shooting bodies usually step in only when the prospect of a resolution is in sight.

“All indications are that the work-to-rule will go ahead,” said a source. “The pilots appear entrenched and IAG has not had a dose of the jitters.”

The pilots are seeking a near 24pc pay increase. The airline has offered 12.25pc, while the Labour Court recommended an interim increase of 9.25pc, which was rejected by the pilots. An independent pilot pay tribunal last year also recommended 12.25pc and a 1.5pc increase in unconsolidated pay.

“The only real way of building their pay beyond the 12.25pc [offered by the airline] is to have a discussion on productivity and flexibility,” said Mr Moriarty. ​

“We’re absolutely open to talking to them, but it really has to be on the basis of a meaningful discussion rather than a proposed additional increase in pay that isn’t funded.”

He said that last weekend Aer Lingus had to cancel 14 flights and that there had been a “sharp increase in pilot sickness”.

Some sources described the dispute as a “crossroads” for the IAG Group in terms of “who’s running the airline”.

They said the pilots were offered around 9pc in a Labour Court recommendation.

The source said this was in line with increases paid to other staff at the airline to date, and there were fears giving pilots twice as much could lead to knock-on claims.

Ialpa president, Captain Mark Tighe, said the pilots’ pay claim of 24pc equalled inflation since their last pay rise in 2019 and was “entirely affordable”.

He claimed management was insisting that pilots must “sell” their working conditions in exchange for any increase, while the airline was making “enormous profits”.

Industry sources argues that data from the Central Statistics Office shows the average increase in that timeframe was actually 21pc, but just under 7pc in transport. They noted that pilots climb an incremental pay scale every year. That pay scale for pilots is very lucrative.

Although the prospect of industrial action being called off appears remote, insiders said a state mediation body might try to “cool the jets” and initiate talks at a later date if a resolution seemed possible.

Clare Dunne, CEO of the Irish Travel Agents Association, said holidaymakers should continue to “sit tight” until they learn how their flights may be affected.