The result of the ballot by Aer Lingus pilots is an “absolute foregone conclusion,” according to travel expert Eoghan Corry.

The pilots have been voting in a paper ballot throughout the weekend after the airline last week questioned the results of the initial electronic vote.

Represented by the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA), the pilots are looking for pay rises of over 20%.

Aer Lingus has labelled the demands “outrageous” – claiming that it would see senior pilots getting paid just under €350,000 a year.

Ballot

Last week’s e-ballot saw the pilots backing strike action by a 97.7% margin – and on Breakfast Briefing this morning, Mr Corry said he expects the paper vote to be no different.

“[it’s] a foregone conclusion,” he said.

“IALPA are very, very disciplined – they tend to do what the executive instructs them to do.

“It will be in the 90 percents – that is what we saw in the e-vote.

“The real thing here is we are not even in the ring yet on this dispute. We’re just going through the weigh-in where both sides are sizing each other up and seeing what’s going to happen next when we get back into talks.”

Strike

Mr Corry said IALPA has engineered the situation to ensure they can go into talks with the threat of a summer strike looming.

He said even the threat of strike action is already hurting Aer Lingus – noting that previous strike threats saw the airline losing millions of euro a day in forward bookings.

The travel writer said the union has “no intention” of agreeing to give Aer Lingus 15 days’ notice of any strike action – and will offer only the minimum 7 days.

The shorter lead-in time will leave the airline needing to pay out compensation to impacted passengers – something that could be avoided if it was able to give them 15 days’ notice of flight disruption.

“There is a lot of damage that can be inflicted on the airline and IALPA have no intention, I can tell you, of giving the 15 days’ notice because that is an extra weapon in their arsenal,” said Mr Corry.

The result of the paper ballot is due to be released later this morning.