Aer Lingus cancels 120 flights on June 29 following strike at Ialpa – The Irish Times

Aer Lingus has cancelled 120 flights on Saturday 29 June after members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) announced an eight-hour strike on Friday for the same day. The airline said this would affect around 15,000 customers on short-haul flights, bringing the number of flights affected by the Ialpa strike to over 215.

“Aer Lingus has rescheduled long-haul flights on 28 and 29 June to avoid cancellation of these services,” it said on Saturday.

“Aer Lingus is automatically rebooking some customers on alternative flights and has begun emailing all other customers about the cancellations and informing them of their options: free rebooking, refund or voucher.”

Aer Lingus’ regional flights operated by Emerald Airlines are not affected by IALPA’s industrial action and will operate as planned, it said.

On Friday, members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) informed the company that they would walk out from 5am to 1pm on Saturday 29 June.

( What rights do I have if industrial action at Aer Lingus affects my holiday plans? )

Their move came just an hour after Aer Lingus announced it would cancel 124 flights over five days from Wednesday in a bid to contain the impact of a strict and indefinite industrial action plan that IALPA said was set to come into force on that day as part of its ongoing campaign for a 23.88 percent pay rise.

On Saturday, Aer Lingus warned pilots that they could be held personally liable for any losses the airline may incur if they do not complete their schedules before the strikes begin on Wednesday. A letter to pilots from Adrian Dunne, the airline’s chief operations officer, said the company expected them to complete their current schedules, including any requested changes, by 00:01 on Wednesday, when their strikes begin.

He adds that the company considers any pilot who fails to do so to be participating in an unofficial industrial action and warns that “individuals who engage in this type of conduct may be held personally liable for any losses incurred.”

Under Irish law, employees may only strike or take other industrial action after following certain procedures, including voting in favour of the proposal by secret ballot and giving their employer at least seven days’ notice.

Any action outside these rules is considered “unofficial” and companies can hold unions or individual workers liable for resulting losses.

From next Wednesday morning, pilots will not be allowed to work outside of their working hours or to comply with any changes to their schedules, depriving Aer Lingus of any flexibility and hampering its operations during the busiest time of the year.

The routes affected on June 29 include Dublin-New York JFK and Cork-Heathrow, as well as flights from the capital of the Republic to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Manchester, Munich, Vienna, Hamburg, Lyon, Düsseldorf and Birmingham.

Ialpa President Captain Mark Tighe accused Aer Lingus of escalating the conflict through a “campaign of hostility” against union members.

This included a threat to take him and other union board members to the Supreme Court “for alleged unlawful conduct” in connection with an alleged increase in sickness among pilots. “Ialpa strongly denies this allegation,” said Captain Tighe.

A company review panel for pilot illnesses has contacted individual members in what the union’s president said was threatening behavior.

He added that Aer Lingus had threatened to terminate all agreements with the pilots’ union because these working practices were no longer compatible with the airline’s business.

Captain Tighe argued that the scale of cancellations in the coming week shows the extent to which the airline relies on the goodwill and flexibility of pilots.

“We do everything we can to provide good service to our customers,” he added.

Due to Ialpa’s guarantee policy, Aer Lingus lacks the flexibility in pilot deployments to maintain its flight schedule throughout the holiday season.

The airline stresses that the cancellations are aimed at preserving as many flights as possible and minimising the risk of short-term disruptions to operations.

On Friday, Aer Lingus condemned the union for causing “further pain” to passengers by announcing the eight-hour strike.

“IALPA’s decision is clearly aimed at causing maximum disruption to passengers’ travel plans at the height of the holiday season,” the airline said.

However, Captain Tighe argued that the dispute would not have reached this point if Aer Lingus had reopened negotiations with Ialpa instead of threatening to cut terms and conditions. “We never wanted it to get to this point and we have made it clear that as pilots we care about passengers,” he said.

However, Donal Moriarty, Aer Lingus’ Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, said the company was aiming to meet with the union next week.

Aer Lingus is offering all passengers booked flights between Wednesday 26 June and Tuesday 2 July a number of options, including cancelling the trip and receiving a refund in cash or voucher, as well as changing the booking free of charge.

Since Friday morning, the airline has been contacting affected customers directly with details of cancellations and flight changes. Aer Lingus expects this process to continue until Saturday.