Negotiations to avoid industrial action against Aer Lingus fail; airline announces new cancellations

In a statement, Aer Lingus said: “Aer Lingus is disappointed that following separate employment tribunal meetings with Aer Lingus and Forsa/IALPA today, its assessment is that it is unable to to help in the conflict at the moment.

“Aer Lingus has made clear that it remains available for discussions directly and through the State Industrial Relations Framework. »

In a letter to members this evening, IALPA said industrial action would continue as planned from this evening.

He said the employment tribunal had said it would not intervene at this time, but that the decision would be reviewed in July.

Other cancellations

Earlier it was confirmed that Aer Lingus would cancel a further 50 flights due to industrial action by pilots next Monday and Tuesday.

This is in addition to more than 200 flights already canceled due to planned zeal and strike action by pilots who are members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA).

It is understood that further cancellations were made on a contingent basis for Monday July 1 and Tuesday July 2, despite hopes that progress could be made in the ongoing industrial dispute.

In a statement, Aer Lingus said: “The implementation of these cancellations (for Monday and Tuesday) aims to enable us to protect as many services as possible for as many of our customers as possible.

“These cancellations will be implemented today and details will be communicated to affected customers. Details of affected services can be found on the aerlingus.com Travel Advice page.

The company added that it is giving customers as many options as possible if they want to change their plans.

Both sides had agreed to attend separate meetings at the employment tribunal on Tuesday to provide information on the industrial standoff, with Aer Lingus meeting at 11am followed by IALPA at 2pm.

Speaking ahead of the company’s employment tribunal meeting, Aer Lingus CEO Lynne Embleton said the dispute was “harming everyone”, including holidaymakers, people traveling for family events and to Taylor Swift fans.

Aer Lingus has already canceled more than 200 flights and sought to welcome back 35,000 passengers due to a bitter pay dispute.

The work-to-rule movement will begin on Wednesday, with a separate eight-hour strike planned for Saturday.

Pilots are demanding a 24% pay increase, which they say is equivalent to inflation since the last pay increase in 2019.

Aer Lingus said it was prepared to offer pay rises of 12.5% ​​or more if “improvements to productivity and flexibility” were discussed.

Earlier, Taoiseach Simon Harris called on both sides to “dig deep” to reach a resolution in the ongoing saga.

The Taoiseach said it was “absolutely vital” that both sides enter into talks to find a solution.

“My challenge to the parties now is to move that commitment forward, rather than subjecting people to a prolonged period of agony and chaos and then committing to the end anyway,” Harris said on Tuesday. Morning.

This dispute will be resolved in the same way as any dispute: compromise, commitment, sitting around a table. This is what needs to happen.

“I welcome the fact that today both parties have agreed to appear before the employment tribunal, albeit separately, but I would ask people to dig deep.”

He said there would be “very little sympathy” for anyone involved in canceling family holidays and disrupting the tourism sector if they did not engage “intensively”.