Summary
- Things are getting nasty at Aer Lingus – pilots are escalating a full-blown strike.
- Aer Lingus canceled 244 flights between June 26 – June 30 affecting 40,000 passengers.
- Affected pasengers have been offered alternative flights, refunds or vouchers by the airline.
What started out as a strict work to rule from Wednesday, June 26, 2024, has quickly escalated into a full-blown pilot strike at Irish airline Aer Lingus. With pilots now planning to stop work between 05:00 and 13:00 on Saturday, June 29, the airline has taken some action of its own by canceling at least 244 flights during the first five days of the industrial action.
Things have got nasty
On Friday, the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) informed the airline that in addition to the work-to-rule industrial action from June 26 to July 2, pilots would take strike action on Saturday, June 29. According to the BBC, Aer Lingus said it has now canceled at least 244 flights scheduled for next week, affecting the travel plans of more than 40,000 passengers.
Photo: Croatorum | Shutterstock
Addressing the impact of the work-to-rule action, which the airline described as an insidious form of industrial action, Aer Lingus canceled between 10% and 20% of its flights between Wednesday, June 26 and Sunday, June 30th. The airline said canceling those flights would enable it to protect as many services as possible for as many customers as possible, adding that it would “do everything we can to minimize the impact for customers.”
“It is inevitable that there will be disruption as a result of this industrial action, and we will communicate any changes, delays or cancelations to impacted customers as soon as possible. Where there are cancelations, we will look to accommodate customers as quickly as possible and will work with other airlines, with partner airlines and seek to hire-in aircraft for this purpose.”
Related
Aer Lingus Pilots Restart Pay Negotiations Ahead Of Strike
An end-of-month strike is looming large after talks break down.
More news to come
As of 09:21 UTC on Sunday, the Aer Lingus website advises that all Aer Lingus Regional flights, operated by Emerald Airlines, and Aer Lingus UK transatlantic flights to and from Manchester will operate as scheduled. The airline said:
“We fully understand the anxiety being experienced by customers given the uncertainty this has caused. We are providing all customers with bookings within these dates the option to change flights, or request refunds or vouchers. We are also adding additional resources to help minimise any disruption.”
The Irish Times reported that the strike action came just an hour after Aer Lingus announced it would cancel 124 flights over the five days from Wednesday when the work-to-rule would be in effect. IALPA president Captain Mark Tighe accused the airline of escalating the dispute through a campaign of antagonism against union members, and that the union was seeking a reasonable pay increase in light of cost of living increases and salaries paid by other European airlines.
Photo: Aer Lingus
The union leader said that the dispute would not have reached this point if Aer Lingus had restarted negotiations with the union instead of threatening to cut its terms and conditions. Tighe added:
“We never wanted it to come to this and we have made it clear that passengers are very important to us pilots. We go above and beyond to provide a good service to customers.”
The airline advised that the routes affected by the strike on June 29 include Dublin-New York JFK and Cork-Heathrow, along with flights from Dublin to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Manchester, Munich, Vienna, Hamburg, Lyons, Dusseldorf and Birmingham.
Have you been affected by this industrial action? Let us know in the comments.