Talks between Aer Lingus and pilots’ union to resolve dispute break down

Talks between Aer Lingus and representatives of the pilots’ union to resolve a bitter industrial dispute have broken down.

Officials from the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) and the airline had been engaged in negotiations on Thursday morning in an attempt to bring an end to the stand-off which has already seen 270 flights cancelled.

An indefinite work-to-rule began on Wednesday, with pilots now refusing to work overtime, accept changes to set rosters, or take on out-of-hours management requests.

An eight-hour strike is also planned for Saturday.

Fresh talks between both got under way on Thursday morning, however later in the afternoon, both sides emerged saying that no resolution had been reached.

Ialpa president Mark Tighe said: “At this point, talks have broken down.

“We allowed a smaller group – both sides did – to meet to see if they could come to some sort (of agreement).

“Ialpa officially moved from its inflationary figure of 23.88%. The company has not moved from its statement that anything more than 12.25% would have to be funded by pilots’ own payments through work practice changes.”

Mr Tighe said that the pay rise would cost Aer Lingus approximately five million euro a year.

In reference to the company’s 225 million euro profit last year, he said: “That seems to be the stumbling block and the point at which all this industrial action is going to continue.

“Also, perhaps on contravention of the Labour Court’s request not to escalate, the company has escalated.

“Two things happened – firstly this morning one of our captains was denied access to our executive lounge which is a captain’s privilege, in front of people. Secondly, and more significantly the company informed us that they insisted on renegotiating all of our collective agreements and that if we do not they reserve their right to legally terminate bonus agreements.”

The Ialpa executive will meet later today to discuss the prospect of escalating the industrial action.

Mr Tighe added: “In view of those escalations, I would have to say that the chances of an escalation of industrial action on our part would have to be considered to be high.

“It’s appalling that a company would treat any of their staff that way. Pilots are career employees. We’re here for 30 to 40 years.

“We’re bound to our company. We’re bound to our customers. It’s quite frankly appalling.”

The airline and Ialpa, a branch of the Forsa trade union, have been involved in a heated exchange of words in recent days, with each accusing the other of not engaging.

The pilots are seeking a pay increase of 24%, which they say equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019.

Aer Lingus has said it is willing to offer pay increases of 12.25% or above if “improvements in productivity and flexibility” are discussed.

Aer Lingus chief corporate affairs officer Donal Moriarty said that the airline “engaged constructively” in discussions with Ialpa and Forsa.

He said that he does not believe Ialpa engaged in any “meaningful movement or willingness” during the talks.

“We tried to discuss items that could actually help resolve this dispute, in particular we tried to discuss productivity, flexibility and the modernisation of our collective agreements,” Mr Moriarty said.

“All items that we believe are essential to reaching a pay deal with Ialpa and increasing the 12.25% that was agreed with all other collectively bargained groups, increasing that for pilots.

“We believe that discussion of those items are essential.

“Unfortunately, Ialpa was unable to enter into discussions on those items. In fact, it informed us that it had no mandate to do so.

“We advised Ialpa and encouraged them to revisit that mandate in order to put within their power the normal aspect of pay negotiations.”

Mr Moriarty  added said there is “no doubt” that if the industrial action is to continue, there will be more cancellations.

“We’ve cancelled flights out to July 2. We’re currently assessing whether the strike and the industrial action is requiring further cancellations out to 3, 4 and 5 of July.”

The travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers have been affected by the action so far, with the airline working to offer refunds or alternative flights to people whose trips have been axed.