Aer Lingus pilots perform duties as per the rules, disrupting passengers’ travel plans

LONDON – Aer Lingus pilots have announced they will resume talks with the Irish airline after it began industrial action on Wednesday that led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disrupted travel plans for tens of thousands of people.

The pilots performed their duties by the book, refused to work overtime, accepted changes in duty rosters, and did not comply with management’s requests outside of working hours.

The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association said it would resume talks with Aer Lingus on Thursday as industrial action continued.

An eight-hour strike is planned for Saturday.

The Irish airline and its pilots are locked in a bitter dispute over salaries, with pilots demanding a 24% pay rise since their last pay rise in 2019 to keep pace with inflation. Aer Lingus has said it is willing to offer pay rises of 12.5% ​​or more if “productivity and flexibility” are discussed.

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said it was “absolutely essential” that a solution was found.

“My challenge to the parties now is to move that collaboration forward, rather than subjecting people to a long period of agony and chaos and then engaging at the end,” Harris said Tuesday. “This dispute will be resolved the same way any dispute is resolved: through compromise, through collaboration, by sitting down at the table. That’s what needs to happen.”