Fears for tourism over planned work-to-rule at Aer Lingus

The planned work-to-rule by pilots at Aer Lingus will have a negative impact on tourism, the founder of Aer Lingus Regional has warned.

Pádraig Ó Céidigh said a work-to-rule is more damaging than a strike because people do not know if they can come to the country or if they will be able to leave once they are here.

The Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) served notice to Aer Lingus of an indefinite work-to-rule from next Wednesday, which will involve the pilots not working overtime or “any other out of hours duties requested by management”.

It will also involve the pilots only working the published rosters and “not accepting or working any amendments to published rosters”.

Pilots will not log into the Aer Lingus portal or ‘e-crew’ outside of work hours nor will they answer phone calls outside of work hours.

Aer Lingus pilots, who are members of the IALPA, voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action, in a dispute over pay.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Ó Céidigh said the planned action is hugely significant and worrying for regional Ireland and “‘it’s the last thing we need right now, right after Covid”.

He said one in every four tourists who come to Ireland are from the US and they tend to spend more time and more money here than tourists from other countries.

Tourism is the single biggest industry in rural Ireland and employs over 250,000 people, he said, and these people are totally dependent on June, July and August for their livelihoods.

Mr Ó Céidigh said the impact of the industrial action will be felt far more in rural Ireland than in Dublin, because while people fly into Dublin for a weekend, they tend to come to rural Ireland for longer lengths of time.

Speaking on the same programme, the owner of Galway Food Tours said she is extremely concerned that the action by Aer Lingus pilots will impact on her business.

We operate around seven tours a day and the majority of our customers are American, Sheena Dignam explained.

She said that she is anticipating late cancellations but no one knows what to expect which makes it difficult to plan and organise.

Ms Dignam said April to September is her main tourism season, adding that she has ten employees and they have to pay their rent.

Meanwhile, a hotelier in Co Clare also believes the industrial action at Aer Lingus will negatively impact on his business and the tourism industry.

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Michael Vaughan, who runs the Vaughan Lodge Hotel in Lahinch, Co Clare, said around 90% of the tourists who arrive in Ireland do so by air.

He said tourism depends on airlines, and in turn airlines depend on tourism, but uncertainty will lead to cancellations and there will undoubtedly be huge disruption if the work to rule goes ahead.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Vaughan added that around 200 jobs in the village of Lahinch depend on tourism.

Although tourism is a resilient industry there is the potential for us to lose tens of thousands of euro in revenue even in the short term, he warned.