Aer Lingus announces another 80 flight cancellations amid pay row
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA
Aer Lingus has cancelled a further 80 flights between July 11th and 14th amid continuing industrial action by pilots over pay.
The airline has been cancelling flights in batches during the pilots’ indefinite work-to-rule, which began last week.
It said the latest cancellations will enable it to protect as many services as possible and that affected customers will be contacted regarding refund and rebooking options.
UPDATE 05.07.24
A message to our customers,
The industrial action by the Irish Air Line Pilots Association (IALPA) continues to cause disruption for many of our customers.
Unfortunately we must cancel additional flights from Thursday 11 July to Sunday 14 July. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/SqbdxvmSWx— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) July 5, 2024
A statement said: “Aer Lingus fully understands the anxiety being experienced by customers given the uncertainty caused by Ialpa’s (Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association) industrial action and is giving impacted customers as many options as possible.”
It said details of the affected services are on the Travel Advisory page of its website.
72 of the flights in the latest batch are out of or to Dublin Airport, with eight in and out of Cork.
Earlier this week, Aer Lingus announced 76 flight cancellations between next Monday and Wednesday. This followed 392 cancellations announced last weekend.
A Labour Court hearing aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute was held on Wednesday and both sides are awaiting a recommendation from the court.
Representatives from Aer Lingus and Ialpa attended the meeting, at which they presented their cases and answered questions from the court.
The association is seeking pay rises of more than 20 per cent to compensate members for inflation.
The move brings to 548 the total number of flights that Aer Lingus has cancelled since Ialpa began industrial action last week, hitting around 90,000 passengers.
The airline says it cannot agree to increases greater than the 12.25 per cent awarded to cabin and ground crews without getting a deal on extra productivity and flexibility from the pilots.
