The Labour Court is to conduct a formal hearing tomorrow into the pay dispute between unions and management at Aer Lingus.

The news comes after marathon talks ended late last night with the Court's decision to intervene under Section 25 of the Industrial Disputes Act.

Pilots had been looking for a pay rise of nearly 24%, with Aer Lingus demanding more flexibility and productivity in exchange for increases above 12.25%.

Aer Lingus Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Donal Moriarty said the airline will attend the formal hearing. 

“It was a constructive engagement with the court and I think the court’s assessment was that the best approach that it could take at this time was to formally intervene and conduct a formal hearing and they’re doing that on Wednesday,” he said. 

Aer Lingus pilots on strike. Photo: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

IALPA President Captain Mark Tighe said Aer Lingus has not changed any of its demands and claimed the airline has recently added additional ones. 

“So, we had a full afternoon and evening with the Labour Court where they posed questions to both sides,” he said. 

“The company, not only have they indicated that they were not moving off their statement of 12.25%... They also brought to the Labour Court new demands which the Labour Court have not seen before.” 

The strike continues to disrupt travellers’ summer holidays, with the airline announcing on Friday a further 122 flights were cancelled between July 3rd and July 7th.

Main image: Aer Lingus planes at Dublin Airport.