More Aer Lingus flights cancelled

Updated 2 hours ago

Aer Lingus has cancelled an additional 76 flights between July 8 and 10 due to the ongoing pilots’ strike.

The conflict has so far led to nearly 500 flight cancellations and disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers.

The pilots initially demanded a 24% pay rise, arguing that their pay had not kept up with high levels of inflation since their last pay rise in 2019.

However, there are reports that Aer Lingus is seeking to change pilots’ working conditions before agreeing to a pay rise above 12.25%.

The Irish employment tribunal is expected to issue a formal recommendation in an attempt to end the Aer Lingus pilots’ pay dispute later on Wednesday.

The Labour Court is an independent organisation that provides mediation in labour disputes, helping employers, unions and workers reach resolutions.

It is a “court of last resort”, meaning that its services can only be sought if the parties to a dispute have first exhausted all other options.

The Labour Court hears both sides of an industrial relations dispute in a closed-door tribunal.

He then issues a written recommendation setting out the court’s view on how the dispute should be resolved.

In a statement released Wednesday, Aer Lingus announced the cancellation of 76 additional flights between July 8 and 10.

The airline said it was cancelling flights “in order to continue to protect as many services as possible” from the continuing strike.

“The implementation of these cancellations is intended to enable us to protect as many services as possible for as many of our customers as possible,” Aer Lingus said.

Details of cancellations will be communicated to affected customers.

The pilots, represented by the Irish Air Line Pilots Association (IALPA), have been on an indefinite work-to-rule strike since June 26.

This means that they do not work overtime or perform other tasks outside of working hours.

After the failure of negotiations facilitated by the labour court last week, they have threatened to step up their industrial action.

However, the court has requested that there be no escalation and the pilots are considering this request in light of the latest negotiations.

Aer Lingus said customers affected by the latest cancellations will be able to change their flights free of charge.

They will also be able to request a refund or a voucher, the airline said.

These options will be communicated directly to the customers concerned.

“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,” the airline said.

This is a long-running pay dispute, but here are some of the key developments that have occurred in recent days.