AER Lingus is bracing itself for more flight cancellations as talks about its pilots’ pay dispute continue to rumble on.
The airline has cancelled 392 flights through to this Sunday to “preserve as many services as possible” during the pilots’ industrial action, hitting between 60,000 and 70,000 people’s travel plans.
Both sides in the Aer Lingus pilots’ pay row will return to the Labour Court today (Wednesday) as the latest bid to end the dispute continues.
They emerged from more than nine hours of talks on Monday to confirm that the court would use powers under industrial relations law to intervene in the dispute that threatens more flight cancellations next week.
Ahead of the meeting, Donal Moriarty, Aer Lingus chief corporate affairs officer, confirmed that the carrier was assessing the need to cancel further flights after Sunday, July 7, as it continues to grapple with pilots’ industrial action.
Captain Mark Tighe, Ialpa president, warned that if the Labour Court talks achieved nothing, the union would have no option but to step up their industrial action.
Ialpa rejected an offer worth 12.25 per cent, discounted to 8.5 per cent to pay for flexible summer leave, in January. Subsequent talks have failed to broker a deal.
Richard Cooper of Carefree Travel in Enniskillen advised local people to keep a close eye on the Aer Lingus website and their email accounts as where and when the cancellations take place will vary. The Aer Lingus website has a list of flights disrupted because of the strike.
It states that if your flight is affected, you will be contacted by them directly by email or SMS message. Or, if you booked through a travel agent, they will contact you to advise you of your options.
“Customers will be given the option to change their flights for free for up to 90 days or cancel their flight and claim a full refund,” Mr Cooper told the Herald.
“Aer Lingus are also quite a big airline. They have sister airlines like American Airlines, British Airlines and Iberia who will be accommodating customers travelling on affected routes.
“So they are putting plans in place.”
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