Aer Lingus pilots march around Dublin Airport at the start of the eight-hour strike

Hundreds of Aer Lingus pilots have marched around Dublin Airport during an eight-hour strike amid a bitter dispute with the airline over pay.

The pilots, all in full uniform, took off from the Aer Lingus headquarters on the airport grounds at 6 a.m. and walked past the two terminal buildings twice with posters and banners in their hands.

The demonstration took place in pouring rain and caused significant traffic disruptions around the airport.

After the march was completed, the pilots set up a picket line at the main roundabout at the entrance to the airport.

The strike, which will end at 1pm, comes after primary schools in Ireland go on summer holiday and many prepare for family trips abroad.

Before the general strike on Saturday, pilots had been involved in an indefinite industrial action since Wednesday, which required them to work to rule. So far, almost 400 flights have been cancelled, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.

Despite pressure from Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris and other senior government officials for both sides to “do everything they can” to resolve the conflict, there has been no breakthrough so far.

A chance for a breakthrough came in the form of an invitation to an employment tribunal meeting on Monday. That invitation was issued on Friday while the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) dispute resolution committee was considering escalation.

The union officially accepted the invitation and agreed not to escalate the situation “at this time”, but said that Saturday’s strike and the go-slow would continue.

Aer Lingus and the Forsa trade union, of which Ialpa is a member, also accepted the invitation.

IALPA President Mark Tighe said he did not know whether they would be in the same room or not, as previous meetings had seen management and pilots hold their discussions separately.

The pilots had demanded a 24% pay rise, which they said was the rate of inflation since the last pay rise in 2019. In recent days they have indicated that they would be willing to accept a smaller increase, but a significant gap remains between their position and that of management.

Aer Lingus has stated that it is willing to offer salary increases of 12.25 percent or more if “improvements in productivity and flexibility” are discussed.

One obstacle is that the pilots’ union has said it is its job to refrain from discussing productivity, while the airline says it will only discuss higher salaries if that condition is met.

“There is an opportunity here. If it fails, an escalation would be quite realistic,” said Ialpa President Captain Mark Tighe.

When asked if other Ialpa pilots working for other airlines would also break the picket line, he said: “The days when you couldn’t break a picket line to do your job at another company are over, in my opinion.”

Donal Moriarty, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Aer Lingus, stressed that the airline had participated “constructively” in the talks with Ialpa and Forsa.