AER LINGUS has announced the cancellation of hundreds of flights following a pilot strike.
Yesterday at midnight, industrial action by the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) began. From now on, pilots are refusing to work overtime, accept changes to duty rosters or respond to requests from management outside working hours.
They also confirmed an eight-hour pilots’ strike for this Saturday, June 29.
Aer Lingus and IALPA have been in talks over the past week after the union gave the airline seven days’ notice and informed it that its pilots would begin industrial action this week.
They have not been able to reach agreement on the salary increases for pilots, which are the core of the strike.
The union is demanding a 24 percent pay increase for its pilots.
Aer Lingus has offered a 12.25 percent increase but has expressed openness to further discussions.
“Aer Lingus is available for meaningful direct discussions with IALPA to find a solution to this tariff dispute,” the Irish airline said earlier this week.
“The airline has repeatedly attempted to negotiate directly with IALPA on ways to increase pilot salaries beyond the 12.25% increase agreed with all other bargaining groups, based on agreement on improvements in productivity and flexibility,” they added.
In order to minimize disruption to its passengers during the strike, Aer Lingus has announced the cancellation of 120 flights for Saturday.
This measure affects 15,000 customers on the airline’s short-haul flights.
They also changed the schedules of long-haul flights on June 28 and 29 “to avoid a suspension of these services,” they said.
The airline also confirmed that another 50 flights were cancelled for July 1 and 2.
“In order to continue to protect as many services as possible from the impact of ongoing IALPA industrial action, Aer Lingus has had to cancel a further 50 flights over the course of Monday 1 July and Tuesday 2 July,” they said.
“Implementing these cancellations is intended to enable us to protect as many services as possible for as many of our customers as possible,” they added.
The airline and the union plan to resume talks today.
Customers who wish to travel with Aer Lingus between 26 June and 2 July have the opportunity to rebook their flights free of charge.
You can also cancel your flight and request a refund or voucher.
