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Aer Lingus misses out on second new aircraft as pay dispute lingers

As investment is held back in the Irish carrier pilots are due to complete balloting on recommendations to resolve impasse

With an ongoing pilots pay dispute Aer Lingus has lost out on another new aircraft. File photograph: Bryan O’Brien

Mark Hilliard
Fri May 31 2024 - 17:17

Aer Lingus has missed out on a second new aircraft as its pilots pay dispute rumbles on.

On Friday the airline confirmed an A321 XLR plane would “remain available to be allocated elsewhere” within the IAG parent group, which also includes British Airways, Iberia and Vueling. It follows an earlier decision to reallocate a new Airbus A320 XLR to Iberia after efforts to resolve the pay dispute failed. IAG had warned the impasse would have consequences for investment in the Irish airline.

Its pilots are expected to complete voting on interim Labour Court proposals at brokering a deal by Monday.

“Aer Lingus was unable to give IAG the confidence it needed in our cost structure, resulting in the inaugural A321 XLR – originally planned for Aer Lingus – being allocated elsewhere in the group,” a spokeswoman said on Friday.

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“On the same basis and given the deadline for a decision on painting was this week, the second XLR aircraft will not be painted in Aer Lingus livery and will remain available to be allocated elsewhere within the group.”

Last week the Labour Court recommended that the Irish Airline Pilots Association (Ialpa) accept pay increases totalling 9.25 per cent, and that talks restart on deadlocked issues at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

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However, Ialpa’s executive recommended its members reject the proposal in a ballot which began on Tuesday. It is Ialpa’s position that the Labour Court proposals fail to resolve core issues affecting its members. By contrast, Aer Lingus said last week that it accepted the recommendation and agreed to consider interim steps.

A key issue in the standoff is calculating the cost of extra summer leave flexibility for pilots that Ialpa agreed with Aer Lingus in 2019. The airline has calculated that factoring in the cost of flexible leave would bring the increases sought by Ialpa to 27 per cent, while the union maintained it would be 23.88 per cent.

Ialpa is seeking pay increases of more than 20 per cent to compensate members for the severe rise in the cost of living since 2019 among other things. However, the dispute, which has been ongoing since last January, has already begun to affect investment in its operations, a consequence reflected in Friday’s announcement.

Speaking earlier this year, IAG chief executive Luis Gallego signalled what would be coming. He said while the group was considering boosting the Irish fleet, “without an agreement they [new aircraft] are not going to fly in Aer Lingus”.

Mark Hilliard

Mark Hilliard

Mark Hilliard is a reporter with The Irish Times

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