Aer Lingus has resumed normal service after cancelling 610 flights over the last three weeks due to pilot industrial action. 573 of the cancellations were pre-planned, with a further 37 ‘on the day’ cancellations.
Last week, the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) suspended a work-to-rule agreement at the airline in favour of accepting Labour Court proposals to resolve its pay dispute with Aer Lingus.
IALPA is now hosting a series of member meetings before conducting a pilot ballot, which will open tomorrow and finish on Tuesday, July 23. The Labour Court’s recommendation includes a 17.75% wage raise for pilots over four years.
Although the strike was suspended late Wednesday night, Aer Lingus had already delayed flights till yesterday, a decision that it stated could not be overturned. Today marks the first day of complete service since the work-to-rule began on June 26. IALPA members also staged an eight-hour strike on June 29.
The 610 flight cancellations affected around 84,000 people. In addition to wage increases, the Labour Court recommendation calls for the end of 2022 pay scales, the cancellation of a crewing agreement on rostering and summer leave, and the discharge of a debt owing by pilots to the firm as part of that arrangement.
Founded by the Irish government, it was privatized from 2006 to 2015 and is now a completely owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group (IAG).
As of June 2024, Aer Lingus serves 93 destinations across Asia, Europe, and North America, including the United States, United Kingdom, Turkey, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Germany, France, Croatia, Canada, Belgium, and Austria.
In October 2022, it was announced that Aer Lingus operations between Belfast City and London Heathrow will transfer to Aer Lingus UK. This was owing to Brexit-related regulations that a European carrier could no longer operate domestic routes within the UK. British Airways operated these flights under wet-lease terms, using Aer Lingus UK flight numbers and call signs.
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