Public ignored in Aer Lingus dispute ‘shocking’ – Martin

The Tánaiste has described as “shocking” the degree to which the needs of the Irish travelling public were being ignored by both sides in the Aer Lingus dispute.

Micheál Martin has appealed to the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA) and Aer Lingus management to “get around the table” on the basis of the existing Labour Court recommendation.

Thousands of passengers intending to travel with Aer Lingus over the coming week face huge uncertainty, with pilots set to begin their indefinite work to rule from Wednesday in a dispute over pay.

Speaking in Luxembourg, where he is attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Mr Martin said: “I think it is shocking the degree to which the needs of those who travel are being, in my view, ignored in the context of this dispute.

“There’s only one way to resolve this, it’s through negotiations and getting around the table. It is that simple by the way, and all disputes end, and the most effective way that they end is by utilising the industrial relations machinery that we have available in the State, which is the WRC and the Labour Court.

“The Labour Court did issue a recommendation, an interim one, which does form the basis, in my view, for further negotiations.

“I would appeal to both sides to get around the table and to think of the many thousands of families and workers across the country. This is the one time in the year that they get an opportunity to travel for their holidays. They’ve planned for these, they’ve saved for these – it’s shocking that they’re being ignored, and wilfully, if you like, put to one side in this battle between the management of Aer Lingus and unions.”

Mr Martin said there was an obligation on Aer Lingus to make every effort to create momentum around talks and getting around the industrial relations table to get an agreement hammered out.

Yesterday saw both sides in the Aer Lingus pay dispute accuse of each other of refusing to engage.

Management said it has written to pilots seeking direct discussion on pay but that any increases would be based upon reaching agreement on improvements in productivity and flexibility.

IALPA has said that the 24% pay increase it is seeking for its members is based on cumulative inflation over recent years and that its members should not have to pay for their salary increase by agreeing to work practice changes.

Over the weekend Aer Lingus confirmed that at least 244 flights have been cancelled from this Wednesday to Sunday due to the industrial action being taken by IALPA.

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Next Saturday alone 120 flights have been cancelled, because of an eight-hour strike by pilots, which will impact 15,000 passengers.

This is in addition to the 124 previously announced cancellations resulting from a work-to-rule which begins on Wednesday.

The Chief Corporate Affairs Officer with Aer Lingus said the insidious nature of the pilots’ industrial action has the capacity to result in many more flight cancellations and could result in passengers being told their flight is cancelled while they are at the gate.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Donal Moriarty said the nature of the action means there could be “close in” cancellations caused by pilot availability.

He said Saturday will see a particularly large number of cancellations due to strike action and huge efforts have been made to accommodate passengers who have been disrupted to date.

“Of 35,000 passengers disrupted, we’ve managed to re-accommodate or refund or rebook 80% of those and we’re looking to do the same with the remaining passengers. So the the disruption will be significant.

“We would look to engage with other airlines, partner airlines, hiring aircraft to minimise the damage that’s been done to our customers in the summer. But it’s very difficult to do that because the action has been timed in the peak of summer, when that availability is is difficult to find,” he said.

Additional reporting Brian O’Donovan