‘Reprehensible’ to use children as ‘pawns’ as Aer Lingus pilots’ strike threatens summer holiday flights, Simon Harris says

Pilots at Aer Lingus served notice to the airline of their intention to launch an indefinite work-to-rule from next Wednesday.

It comes after the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) voted overwhelmingly for industrial action in a dispute over pay earlier this week.

From next Wednesday, Ialpa members at the airline will not do any overtime or out-of-hours duties.

The pilots are seeking a pay increase of 24pc, which they say equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019.

Aer Lingus has described the industrial action as “entirely unnecessary” and warned that it will result in significant disruption to customers.

It has also characterised the pay ask as unrealistic.

Simon Harris urged the airline and the pilots to “sort this out”, noting that the matter had been considered by State workplace relations institutions.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Harris said: “Many, many, many families across the country have seen parents and others go out to work over the course of the year and set aside a few bob to try and take their kids on a family holiday.

“And the idea that passengers – children due to go on their summer holiday – would be used as pawns in an industrial relations dispute that has already been considered by the Labour Court is utterly reprehensible, and people need to step back from the brink.”

Asked about what Government could do in the dispute, Mr Harris said it already provided the State’s industrial relations mechanisms.

He added: “I would absolutely encourage people to utilise them.

“And let me tell you this, people have a right to engage in industrial disputes but I think anybody who engages in an industrial relations dispute and does not use those mechanisms, I don’t imagine they’re going to get much gratitude or support from the people of Ireland, the parents of Ireland, trying to pack bags and bring their kids on holiday, not sure whether that’ll now be able to go ahead.

“So, get back in a room and sort this out is my very clear message.”

Earlier, Tánaiste Micheál Martin urged both sides “in the interests of the people of this country” to resolve the Aer Lingus dispute.

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 said 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.”

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.