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Aer Lingus announces 80 more flight cancellations due to pay dispute

Posted on by angelo

Aer Lingus has cancelled a further 80 flights between 11 and 14 July due to continuing pilot action over pay.

The airline has cancelled flights in batches during the pilots’ indefinite work-to-rule strike, which began last week.

The company said the latest cancellations will allow it to protect as many services as possible and affected customers will be contacted regarding refund and rebooking options.

A statement said: “Aer Lingus fully understands the anxiety felt by customers given the uncertainty caused by the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) industrial action and is offering affected customers as many options as possible.”

The company said details of affected services can be found on the travel advice page of its website.

72 of the latest batch of flights depart from or arrive at Dublin Airport, with eight arriving and departing from Cork.

Earlier this week, Aer Lingus announced 76 flight cancellations between Monday and Wednesday. This follows the 392 cancellations announced last weekend.

An employment tribunal hearing aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute took place on Wednesday and both sides are awaiting a recommendation from the tribunal.

Representatives from Aer Lingus and Ialpa attended the meeting, where they presented their cases and answered questions from the court.

The association is demanding wage increases of more than 20% to compensate for inflation for its members.

The decision brings to 548 the total number of flights cancelled by Aer Lingus since the Ialpa strike began last week, affecting around 90,000 passengers.

The airline says it cannot accept increases above the 12.25% granted to cabin and ground crew without securing agreement on additional productivity and flexibility from pilots.