Tens of thousands of Aer Lingus passengers face travel chaos as work to rule gets underway

Tens of thousands of Aer Lingus passengers face travel chaos as the airline’s pilots begin their work to rule action today.

The indefinite action taken by the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA) at Aer Lingus started from midnight on Tuesday.

Already the more than 200 cancellations announced by the airline as a direct result of the action have affected 35,000 passengers.

There was further bad news for holidaymakers as a further 50 flight cancellations were confirmed for next Monday and Tuesday.

Passengers due to travel between Wednesday, June 26th, and next Tuesday, July 2nd, will be given the option to change their flights for free or to cancel their flight and claim a refund or voucher.

IALPA members are refusing to work overtime or carry out any other out-of-hours duties requested by management.

Pilots will not accept or work any amendments to published rosters.

They are also refusing to log on to Aer Lingus online portals outside of work hours or answer work phone calls outside of work hours.

IALPA and Aer Lingus management attended separate meetings at the Labour Court on Tuesday in a bid to resolve the dispute.

However, the court advised both parties that it would not be intervening at this time and would review the matter in July.

Aer Lingus has so far cancelled 270 flights because of the work-to-rule and a planned eight-hour strike on Saturday.

The airline hasn’t ruled out the possibility some passengers may only find out their flight is cancelled while they are at the gate waiting to board.

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

Aer Lingus has said it is willing to offer pay increases of 12.5 per cent or above if ‘improvements in productivity and flexibility’ are discussed.

After Tuesday’s Labour Court meeting, Aer Lingus said it was ‘disappointed’ the Labour Court had assessed that it could not currently assist to bridge the gap between the sides.

‘Aer Lingus has made it clear that it remains available for discussions both directly and through the state’s industrial relations framework,’ the airline’s statement added.

‘Aer Lingus will continue to focus on minimising the disruption caused to customers by IALPA’s industrial action.

‘Aer Lingus is calling upon Forsa/IALPA to consider the damage that its continued industrial action is inflicting upon passengers, the company and the Irish economy.’

After attending the court, IALPA president Mark Tighe made it clear the action would proceed.

‘The actions continue as they are notified and will continue until there is a resolution,’ he said.