Air routes to the north-west and west of Ireland could face disruption in the near future if a row over pilot redundancies at Aer Arann is not resolved. IMPACT's assistant general secretary, Mr Michael Landers, has written to the company giving it until next Tuesday to withdraw redundancy notices for 12 of its 60 pilots.
The union held a meeting on Wednesday at Dublin Airport, where the pilots are based. It was agreed that, if the company failed to respond positively, another meeting would be held next Tuesday to consider industrial action.
At this stage it seems unlikely agreement can be reached. A spokesman for the company said yesterday that it preferred to deal directly with employees, rather than through third parties. It had reorganised the company's operations in response to public demand to improve services, particularly from Sligo and Knock.
Aer Arann also provides flights from Dublin to Cork, Donegal, Kerry and Sheffield. It expects to fly 300,000 passengers this year, making it the third-largest airline operating out of Dublin.
As part of the reorganisation it has decided to return two leased Shorts 360 aircraft, which accommodate 36 passengers, to the manufacturers and replace them with French ATR42 aircraft, which seat 50. The 12 pilots being let go are trained to fly the Shorts 360 aircraft.
The first five redundancies come into effect immediately and the remaining seven in October. The company is offering the redundant pilots an extra month's salary as an ex-gratia payment.
Mr Landers said it was "all very well for the company to say it wants to deal with employees directly, but it's not what the employees want. They are very dissatisfied with the company's response so far and don't believe the redundancies are necessary."
He added that the company was not complying with the Protection of Employment Act, which requires it to consult employees when 10 per cent or more of the workforce in a unit or establishment is threatened with redundancy. He claimed that it was also in breach of the 30 days' minimum notice requirement.
The company is likely to reject this position on the basis that the 12 redundancies should be calculated as a percentage of its total workforce of 180, rather than the 60 pilots.