'Anxiety' among customers who have booked flights with Aer Lingus

A CORK travel agent has received a number of calls from worried customers, following the news that pilots in Aer Lingus have once again voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute over pay.

Members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association voted 99% in favour of taking industrial action up to and including full withdrawal of labour in a second ballot.

The association’s president, Captain Mark Tighe, said that the group is now consulting with its colleagues in Fórsa to determine its next steps.

The managing director of Magic Vacations, John Barrett, told The Echo that people are anxious to ensure their holidays will proceed.

“There is certainly anxiety there, people want to make sure that the flights they’ve booked are still going ahead,” Mr Barrett said.

He said that the results of the ballot do not mean that an agreement cannot be reached.

“Schools are finishing, people are looking forward to their summer holidays — we want to minimise any stress,” Mr Barrett said.

“As of now, everything is operating as normal, but obviously we are keeping in absolute laser contact with Aer Lingus.

“At the very least, they have to give seven days notice. Aer Lingus is calling for 15 days.

“A lot of people have travel insurance that includes travel disruption, we are asking them to make sure that includes industrial disruption.

“If you had a list of the things we’ve coped with: ash, industrial action, weather, covid, we’re very used to it, and this isn’t the first time Aer Lingus have had industrial fallout. There’s often lots of to-ing and fro-ing, loads of demands, and often it gets sorted out beforehand,” he said.

Mr Barrett, who is a member of the Irish Travel Agents Association, said: “We are calling on Aer Lingus and the pilots to get back to the table, back to negotiations, and really try to minimise any disturbance to passengers this summer.”