‘No meaningful progress’ at Aer Lingus pilot talks

Talks between management and pilots at Aer Lingus ended without agreement yesterday evening.

The two sides met for several hours in a bid to resolve a pay dispute that could lead to strike action at the airline.

In a statement, Aer Lingus said “no meaningful progress was made” at the talks.

A spokesperson said: “Aer Lingus offered to continue to engage in direct discussions on meaningful productivity and flexibility proposals to enable increased pay.”

“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, the airline said.

Members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action.

Aer Lingus has asked IALPA for at least fifteen days’ notice if pilots are planning to strike. The union is required to give at least seven days’ notice.

On Monday, prior to the announcement of the ballot result, Aer Lingus wrote to IALPA stating 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.

The letter outlined that advance notice of at least fifteen days is the norm when industrial action has been taken internationally in other airlines.

“While this would still give rise to very significant disruption with the resulting financial impact on the company, it would at least provide us with more opportunity to try to make alternative arrangements during the summer season for a greater number of our customers,” according to the Aer Lingus letter.

The President of IALPA, Captain Mark Tighe, said members will announce in due course what form any industrial action will take but that they want to avoid causing widespread travel disruption for holidaymakers this summer.

Last week, IALPA members voted overwhelmingly to reject a Labour Court recommendation that pilots should receive pay increases totalling 9.25% as part of an interim settlement.

The figure was well below the 23.8% that the pilots had been seeking. Aer Lingus has described the level of increases being demanded as exorbitant and untenable.

IALPA said previous pay offers do not reflect the impact of inflation, the large profits made by Aer Lingus, or the sacrifices made by pilots during the pandemic to save the company.

Aer Lingus accused IALPA of failing to engage in various independent processes responsibly and claimed that the union’s stance risks investment, growth and jobs in the airline.

The company has lost the opportunity to secure two new Airbus aircraft from its parent IAG due to the uncertainty caused by the ongoing pay dispute.