Aer Lingus pilots wanted to up the ante with another strike before talks took a U-turn

A committee of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) umbrella union Fórsa decided to adjourn the meeting without considering the planned escalation after the Labour Court summoned it to a meeting on Monday.

This meant that the Dispute Settlement Committee did not take a decision on the planned further closures, which would have led to the suspension of further flights.

It is understood that the Fórsa committee considered that the court’s request not to escalate the dispute until Monday should be respected. Fórsa and the airline have accepted the court’s request.

On Monday, the labor court will comprehensively examine the dispute over the pilots’ demand for a 24 percent salary increase over three years.

Aer Lingus customers at Dublin Airport react to flights affected by industrial action – Friday 28 June

If it finds room to negotiate, it could propose new talks. But it faces a difficult task, as the exploratory talks it held this week failed to find a basis for talks. Another round of face-to-face talks, initiated by Aer Lingus, failed without making much progress.

Passengers hope that next week’s intervention will finally resolve the long-running dispute that has led to hundreds of flight cancellations this week.

Aer Lingus has had to cancel a further 122 flights next week due to the ongoing pilots’ strike.

The cancelled flights will take place from Wednesday, July 3rd to Sunday, July 7th.

An eight-hour strike is taking place today, while an indefinite go-slow continues.

The gap between pilots and the airline is still wide. Aer Lingus wants to talk about productivity measures to improve the salary offer of 12.25 percent – but Ialpa has refused to talk about it. The company has slightly reduced its salary demand.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan issued a stark warning about the potential prospects for holidaymakers and other passengers if no progress is made on Monday.

“This is obviously a decisive intervention and if it fails I think it will have the most dire consequences, including a very serious escalation of industrial action afterwards,” he said.

In a statement yesterday, Aer Lingus said it would cancel a further 122 flights between July 3 and 7 to “protect as many services as possible”.

IALPA’s Mark Tighe speaks to the media after talks with Aer Lingus failed

“These cancellations are being implemented today and details will be communicated to affected customers. Details of the services affected can be found on the aerlingus.com travel advice page,” it said. “These customers will have the option to change their flights free of charge or request a refund or voucher.”

“Aer Lingus fully understands customers’ concerns about the uncertainty caused by Ialpa’s industrial action and is offering affected customers as many options as possible.”

Aer Lingus has asked Ialpa to consider a joint referral back to the Employment Tribunal to resolve the dispute.

Ialpa president Captain Mark Tighe said: “We are in a process within our leadership and our union where we are considering escalating industrial action because the company has told us that if we do not agree to the changes in working practices they will simply abolish our working practices,” he told the BBC. Good morning Ulster show.

“The company has escalated the situation, so I would expect there to be some sort of escalation in response.”

Meanwhile, pilot unions in the US and UK have lined up behind their colleagues at Aer Lingus.

Allied Pilots, which represents 16,000 American Airlines pilots, is among those that have offered their “unwavering” support to Aer Lingus pilots.

“On behalf of the 16,000 American Airlines pilots represented by the Allied Pilots’ Association (APA), I am proud to pledge our unwavering support for the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association’s efforts to conclude CLA (Collective Labor Agreement) negotiations with Aer Lingus management,” said APA President Captain Ed Sicher.

He added: “APA has long stood shoulder to shoulder with our Irish pilot brothers and sisters.”

Mr Sicher said the US pilots union was willing to share “our knowledge and experience” with Ialpa.

The Balpa union, which represents pilots in the UK, also said it stood “firmly” behind its colleagues at Aer Lingus.

“We call on all members to show support and solidarity to their colleagues at Ialpa,” it said.

Balpa general secretary Amy Leversidge said the union was “deeply concerned” about the pilot dispute at Aer Lingus.

The 17,000-member pilots’ union of the US airline Delta also expressed its support for its colleagues at Aer Lingus in the run-up to the strike on Saturday.

“Please join the march and ensure no Aer Lingus pilot has difficulty getting on their plane,” the union said in a post on X.

The US-based Airline Pilots’ Association, an umbrella organization representing 78,000 pilots from 41 American and Canadian airlines, also supported the Irish airline’s pilots.