Micheál Martin urges parties to ‘hammer out settlement’ as Aer Lingus row threatens dozens of flight cancellations

He called on the airline and the pilots’ representatives “to get around the table and to hammer out a settlement”.

His plea came after the Irish Independent reported how dozens of flights will have to be cancelled by Aer Lingus next week as its pilots stage industrial action – with little hope of a swift solution to the impasse.

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 (WRC) this weekend is considered highly unlikely because the airline and the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) are described as being “poles apart”.

Speaking in the Dáil, Louise O’Rourke of Sinn Féin told him that people worked all year for their holidays and wanted to get away and the threats to flights from next week mean that a “high-level intervention is essential.”

Mr Martin said he was not going to play politics with an industrial relations issue, but said that the uncertainty was creating “unacceptable anxiety to many families, and it needs to be resolved”.

The sides had to get back to the Labour Court or the WRC to deal with the points of difference, he said.

The Fianna Fáil leader said the issue was extremely important.

“There is an obligation on all sides to get to the table as quickly as possible to resolve this issue,” he said.

“We know the impact will be extremely disruptive if it does go to industrial action.

“The domestic economy will suffer as will jobs — with many small companies in retail and hospitality being hit if tourists are not facilitated in arriving into the country because of a dramatic reduction in flights.

“Air connectivity is key to an island nation and is its life-blood. That is why every effort must be made to resolve this.

“It is vital that both parties to this dispute act responsibly and re-engage, as recommended by the Labour Court.

“There a framework within which this can be resolved.”

He said there were strong consumer protections in the event of cancellations, “but we don’t want to go there. We want this dispute resolved”.

Meanwhile, 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.

Dozens of flights to be cancelled by Aer Lingus as pilots stage industrial action

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

It is now attempting to hire aircraft on so-called wet leases in which 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. These 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,” a source said. “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,” Mr Moriarty said. ​

“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.