Things ‘don’t look very hopeful’ as both sides in the Aer Lingus pilots’ pay dispute prepare for talks at the Labour Court today, according to travel expert Eoghan Corry.

Aer Lingus pilots escalated their industrial action with an eight-hour strike on Saturday and are continuing their indefinite work-to-rule.

The action has seen around 400 flights cancelled so far, impacting around 17,000 passengers.

The invitation to the Labour Court came as pilots’ union IALPA was in talks with its parent union Fórsa about whether to sanction further all-out strikes.

Aer Lingus pilots march around Dublin Airport as they begin their eight-hour strike, 29-06-2024. Image: PA Images / Alamy

The union cannot do so while the Labour Court talks are continuing – and Mr Corry said passengers will now be hoping neither side collapses the negotiations too early.

“When people are grandstanding, it's very hard to tell what the real mood is,” he said.

“I do feel there's a mood of militancy in IALPA and the key is for everybody - the Labour Court people and the FÓRSA people in the talks - to prevent a deliberate collapse of the scrum, a deliberate collapse of the talks so that the action can be escalated.

“Because IALPA clearly feel that by putting more pressure on their passengers, more pressure on their Lingus, they can get a better deal.”

Mr Corry said passengers are now “relying on the skill and experience of the negotiating teams” – and IALPA has recently had a complete change of leadership.

“The new president, it's quite well known that he's quite critical of the previous president for not being tough enough with Aer Lingus over the years,” he said.

“You need an awful lot of experience to get into the cockpit of an aircraft in the major airlines - something like 1,500 flying hours - so it’s a pity we don't have more experienced negotiators in the room because it's the passengers who are suffering.”

Passengers

The talks are getting underway as a family of six from Cork is claiming that a lack of communication from Aer Lingus over the weekend cost then €3,500.

Eugenia Humston said she bought new flights for her family after their flight from Malaga to Cork Airport was cancelled on Thursday – only for the airline to organise a new flight almost 24 hours later.

“It was shocking – the complete lack of communication,” she said.

“Nobody knew and it is not just me and my family with me saying oh there are six of us we’re so precious – absolutely not.

“There were a lot of families with small babies in buggies that were hysterical; they needed feeding, changing, it was horrible and there was a complete lack of communication from Aer Lingus.”

Industrial action

When the industrial action was first called, IALPA was demanding a 24% pay increase for pilots, claiming it was necessary due to inflation.

The union has since reduced that demand to around 21%.

IALPA claims senior executives in Aer Lingus have received pay increases amounting to around 66% in that time frame.

Aer Lingus says it wants more productivity and flexibility in work practices before considering any pay rise above 12.25%.

Forsa says the situation is at a critical stage, and the outcome of the Labour Court process is crucial.

The union said that if the talks fail, the situation could become much worse than it is now – with a greater likelihood of escalating industrial action.

With reporting from Andrew Lowth.