Aer Lingus calls for “meaningful” discussions with pilots

Updated 6 minutes ago

Aer Lingus said it had written to pilots asking them to have direct and meaningful discussions to find a solution to the ongoing dispute over pay.

At least 244 Aer Lingus flights are now canceled next week due to a pilot strike, the airline confirmed on Saturday.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that the airline said it had “repeatedly sought to engage directly with the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) on ways to increase pilot pay beyond of the 12.25% increase agreed with all other groups collectively bargained, based on agreement on improvements in productivity and flexibility.

IALPA refused to enter into negotiations with the airline and ended the most recent direct discussions with Aer Lingus on Monday June 17.

Earlier this week, IALPA served notice of an indefinite strike from Wednesday June 26 in an ongoing pay dispute.

On Friday, Aer Lingus IALPA members announced they were now planning to strike on Saturday June 29 from 05:00 to 13:00 BST.

Aer Lingus said 120 flights were canceled on June 29 due to the strike, affecting 15,000 passengers.

RTÉ has ​​reported that the number of canceled flights could increase as pilots work indefinitely.

In total, this industrial action will affect more than 40,000 passengers who are due to travel with the airline from June 26 to July 2.

Aer Lingus said the cancellations would allow it to “protect as many services as possible for as many of our customers as possible”.

However, regional services to and from Belfast and Great Britain during this period “will not be affected by any industrial relations action and will operate as planned”, the airline said.

Aer Lingus said in a statement on Friday that it was “dismayed that IALPA is further escalating this industrial action, following the insidious action previously announced”.

He said the strike was “clearly designed to inflict maximum damage on passengers’ travel plans”.

Aer Lingus said it would aim to minimize disruption to passengers.

On Thursday, the airline announced that it would have to cancel between 10 and 20% of its flights during the first five days of the action.

The flights that have been canceled are: short-haul flights from Dublin to London Heathrow; Paris; Amsterdam; Lyon; Berlin; Birmingham; Brussels; Dusseldorf; Rome; Frankfurt; Geneva; Hamburg; Manchester; Munich; Vienna; as well as short-haul flights from Cork to London Heathrow and long-haul flights from Dublin to JFK.