Aer Lingus pilots voted no confidence in the airline’s chief executive Lynne Embleton and chief operations officer Adrian Dunne on Monday in a row they say has safety implications.
Their union, the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), sought talks with Ms Embleton on Monday ahead of an extraordinary general meeting to discuss “interference from senior non-flying management” in the operation of aircraft while in flight.
At the meeting, Ialpa members unanimously backed a motion stating that Aer Lingus pilots in their capacity as “frontline guardians of aviation safety for all and in their promotion of safety first at all times” had no confidence in Ms Embleton or Mr Dunne.
Pilots said afterwards that huge numbers attended the meeting in north co Dublin.
READ MORE
The dispute between the airline and its pilots blew up after Aer Lingus last week suspended a captain at its Manchester base, where cabin crew have been striking for higher pay.
The company maintains the incident is the subject of both an investigation and fact-finding exercise.
The captain flew an Aer Lingus aircraft from Barbados to Manchester early last week. There were no passengers on board except cabin crew who were not on flying duty, known as a “positioning crew”.
The captain told the crew to sit in economy class after take off. Its manager complained directly to Aer Lingus in Dublin.
Mr Dunne contacted the aircraft mid-flight to say that the positioning crew could sit in business class.
The captain did not comply with this. He made a safety report after landing following which management told him late last week he was suspended.
Ialpa maintains that Mr Dunne had no authority to instruct the captain on where the positioning crew should sit as this had implications for the aircraft’s balance and therefore its safety.
[ Manchester fails to live up to Aer Lingus expectationsOpens in new window ]
Under aviation safety rules, the flight commander is the sole person responsible for the safety of the aircraft and everyone on board, including crew and airline staff.
Rules also state that positioning crews should remain in the seat assigned to them and should not move between classes.
Aer Lingus said the motions passed by Ialpa members had “no effect” while branding them “inappropriate”.
“There are two separate ongoing processes underway, a safety investigation following receipt of a safety report and a fact finding process following concerns raised by an employee,” a statement from the airline said.
“Both of these processes are being run in accordance with the procedures applicable to them and it is important that the confidentiality and integrity of the processes are not subject to any outside interference.”
The positioning crew did not take part in the cabin crew strike at the Aer Lingus Manchester base from October 30th to November 2nd as they were not members of Unite, the trade union involved.
The pilot’s suspension relates to the complaint that the airline says is the subject of the fact finding exercise.
Ialpa figures dismissed any suggestion that their members brought industrial relations issues on board the flight. Airline sources say positioning crews “normally” sit in business class.
