Complete list of flights canceled during the first week of the strike

Aer Lingus has informed passengers of flight cancellations planned for next week as pilots take industrial action.

The airline said 24 flights per day were canceled between Wednesday and Sunday next week, making a total of 124 flights over those five days.

“This will affect approximately 4,000 customers per day and 20,000 customers over the five days,” Aer Lingus said in a statement.

Affected routes include the Dublin-New York JFK transatlantic service.

Other routes from Dublin affected are those to London Heathrow, Paris, Amsterdam, Lyon, Berlin, Birmingham, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Manchester, Munich and Vienna. The Cork-London Heathrow route is also affected.

You can find a full list of canceled flights in the table below.

Indefinite employment by Aer Lingus pilots means they will not work overtime or out-of-hours duties.

The move was described as “insidious” by the company.

Donal Moriarty, Aer Lingus’ director of corporate affairs, said this form of industrial action is “getting worse by the day” and there is a risk that further cancellations will be necessary.

He told RTÉ radio: “What will happen over the next few days is that affected passengers will be contacted and informed of cancellations if this concerns them, and then given their options in terms of refunds, re-accommodation or Good. »

Mr Moriarty said people were also given the option to cancel or rebook their flight for a later date for free.

The pilots, represented by the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), are demanding a 24 per cent pay rise, which they say is equivalent to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019.

Ialpa chairman Mark Tighe said the zeal will see pilots working to the letter of their contracts.

He said: “Some serious questions need to be raised here about the operation of the airline management, because if you think about it, they are selling tickets, so they are committed to getting people from point A to point B, so they must have enough pilots. to do this.

“If they cancel up to 20% of the operation because the pilots don’t want to work on a day off, that’s not really credible, there’s something else going on here: there’s a shortage of pilots. “

Aer Lingus called the pay demands unrealistic and said no pay deal in Ireland had delivered such an increase.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said people needed to “step back” from the dispute.

“The government is prepared for the parties to come together through the government’s industrial relations mechanisms, and these are available to all parties and I would encourage the parties to do so,” Ms. . Harris.

“People need to step back from this.

“Of course anyone has the right in their workplace to point out a problem, I understand. But what I don’t understand is that at this time of year, as the people of our country prepare to go on summer vacation, those who have worked hard and saved throughout year are about to be seriously disconcerted by this action.

“Frankly, I don’t think there’s any justification for it, in terms of the impact it will have.

“The impact is disproportionate and… people need to step back.

“This will affect children and parents who want to go on vacation. This also affects businesses and will also affect people who come to our country in terms of tourism in these peak times.

“Disputes are only resolved through engagement, which is how they always end up being resolved.” The question now for both parties is: will they try to resolve the issue and demonstrate maturity in this regard, or will they let the issue drag on and eventually lead to negotiations?

“Talks must take place. What I’m asking is that we now reduce the long process and all the chaos that would result for people and we can get to the table quickly.”

Mr Moriarty said: “We would like to engage in direct discussions with Ialpa to reach a reasonable resolution to this pay dispute and we are trying to do so, but unfortunately Ialpa ended these discussions last Monday. »

He said Aer Lingus pilots are already “very well paid” and their salaries are “in line” with market rates.

“A salary agreement was offered to them, an increase of 12.25%, which they refused,” he said.

“We also tried to engage with them based on this 12.25 percent by discussing productivity and flexibility improvements, but unfortunately Ialpa did not want to (engage) in these discussions. “

Around a quarter of all Ialpa members enjoy the highest salary, around €287,000, which includes the value of pensions and other benefits.

To reach that salary takes 26 years and several exams, representatives said.