AER Lingus pilots have served strike notice on the company from midnight next Sunday in a dispute over pay. Notice was served shortly after a strike ballot was concluded by the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) yesterday.
If the strike goes ahead, the first since 1985, serious disruption to scheduled services is inevitable as Aer Lingus handles 50 per cent of all civil traffic in and out of the State.
Attempts at mediation can be expected but there is no obvious forum in which the sides can meet.
The industrial relations climate deteriorated after management suspended nine SIPTU cabin crew at the weekend. The airline took the action when the crew members refused to operate on a flight without a full complement on Saturday.
The aircraft left Dublin for New York without passengers, who were accommodated in Dublin until replacement seats could be found.
A spokesman for the company said it deplored the action of the cabin crew, who should have registered their objections, if they wished, but co operated with the flight. He denied there was any safety risk involved.
The attitude of the cabin crew may have been influenced by the discovery that the company supplied wrong information to the Labour Court earlier this year, when staffing levels for the flight were being negotiated. The court bags subsequently amended its recommendation.
Yesterday the chairman of the Aer Lingus group in IALPA, Mr Dermot Rafferty, said the pilots were still available for talks to discuss the implementation of the 17 per cent award granted to them by the Pilot Pay Review Tribunal two weeks ago.
The company's director of corporate affairs, Mr Dan Loughrey also said management was available for talks. But he said the talks should take the form of direct negotiations.
With neither side able to agree the basis on which talks should take place a strike seems increasingly likely.
Even the question of who will intervene is a moot point. The tribunal was set up because other agencies for arbitration, such as the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court, were not considered appropriate.
The result of yesterday's ballot in favour of strike action gives an impressive mandate to IALPA. Pilots voted by 309 to 13 for strike action in an 87 per cent poll.
Mr Rafferty said yesterday that the cost of implementing the first 5 per cent of the 17 per cent pay award on schedule, on October 1st, would be less than £200,000 this year. The cost of paying the 17 per cent would work out at £3 million a year, or less than one day's turnover by the company.
He said Aer Lingus pilots had always acted responsibly.
"The pilots were the first group to sign up for the Cahill plan and we accepted our share of the cuts; which were necessary to protect the airline's future. Over 60 pilots took voluntary severance, we waived one year's annual increment, pay increases due under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress were foregone and many changes in working conditions accepted.
"In this context we are extremely disappointed at the cavalier dismissal of the independent tribunal's award and the company's concerted efforts to rubbish its work and the eminent and respected people who served on it. Unfortunately this is typical of an aggressive management style".
Mr Loughrey said the company was "disappointed at the outcome of the vote and again we would call for direct negotiations with IALPA, which have not taken place".
"Both the pay increase being sought by IALPA and the action being contemplated put at risk the future of the company. Customers will not put up with this sort of disruption", he added.