Aer Lingus cancels 76 more flights from next week

Aer Lingus has cancelled a further 76 flights next week due to ongoing disruption stemming from a pay dispute between it and members of the Irish Air Line Pilots Association (IALPA).

The cancellations affect flights that were scheduled between Monday, July 8 and Wednesday, July 10.

In a statement released Wednesday, the airline said it was implementing the cancellations “to enable us to protect as many services as possible for as many of our customers as possible.”

Passengers affected by these latest cancellations will be contacted directly, the airline said, and will have the option to change their flight free of charge, or request a refund or voucher.

“Aer Lingus fully understands the anxiety felt by customers given the uncertainty caused by IALPA’s industrial action and is offering affected customers as many options as possible,” a spokesperson said.

Details of affected services and up-to-date information on all flight cancellations are available on the ‘Travel Advisory’ page of the Aer Lingus website.

Labour Court Meetings

News of the cancellations comes ahead of a meeting between Aer Lingus and IALPA representatives at the employment tribunal on Wednesday afternoon.

The meeting represents the latest attempt to bring the two sides together to find a solution to the ongoing wage dispute, which has seen IALPA members embark on an indefinite work-to-rule strike, forcing them to walk out of services outside working hours.

Representatives from Aer Lingus and IALPA are due to meet outside the Employment Tribunal on Wednesday. File photo: Sasko Lazarov/ RollingNews.ie

After facilitating lengthy discussions on Monday, the labor court scheduled another meeting for Wednesday, after which it will issue a recommendation.

Pilots also staged an eight-hour strike on Saturday, during which hundreds of pilots marched around Dublin Airport, holding placards reading, among other things, “no pilots, no profits.”

The strike action has so far led to more than 400 flight cancellations, affecting the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers.

IALPA members were demanding a 24% pay increase, which they said was equal to inflation since their last pay increase five years ago.

If these industrial tribunal negotiations fail, IALPA said it would again consider escalating its industrial action.

On Tuesday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he wanted to see engagement from both sides at the workplace dispute resolution body, urging both sides to stay there “as long as it takes” to see the issues at stake resolved.