AS THE deadline of midnight tonight approaches for the start of a work to rule by Aer Lingus cabin staff, both sides said yesterday there were no plans for further meetings over the dispute.
Initially, the work to rule will cause minimum disruption to passengers. An Aer Lingus spokesman said it was its understanding that "the idea is to cause irritation to management rather than passengers".
However, SIPTU has warned an escalation which would affect flights could not be ruled out. The issuing of protective notice to 4,500 employees on Friday had created a mood of anger, Mr Des Hughes, a union official, said yesterday.
Tour operators who use Aer Lingus for their sun holidays have prepared contingency plans in case the dispute escalates to the point where planes are grounded. One operator said there were plenty of spare aircraft on the market if replacement planes had to be found.
The cabin crew staff case was put to other workers during working hours at Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports yesterday, but there was no disruption to flights.
Mr Hughes said other Aer Lingus staff strongly supported their cabin crew colleagues. He added that they felt insulted the company had issued protective notice on Friday, and the action bad served to unite all staff.
He claimed Dublin Airport was "flooded with management" yesterday in anticipation of some disruption to flights. "In fact, there was no disruption and I don't expect any today," he said.
The dispute concerns an arrangement that a member of Delta Airlines cabin crew staff should travel on Aer Lingus flights to New York. Under a "world partnership" deal worked out earlier this year between the two airlines, Delta block books 40 seats on each Aer Lingus flight and wants to have its own staff member on board. SIPTU says this is threatening the jobs of its cabin crew members.
There are 11 cabin crew members on the Airbus 330 flights to New York. The company wanted to reduce this by one to accommodate the Delta employee. The Labour Relations Commission proposed that Aer Lingus retain its 11 staff members and add the Delta employee on a trial basis.
This proposal was accepted by management despite the cost implications but rejected by the union.
A company spokesman confirmed that Dublin Airport had operated smoothly but denied there were more management personnel than usual on duty yesterday. Mr Dan Loughrey, corporate affairs director, said the union had made it clear all along that the work to rule was not intended to inconvenience passengers.
He confirmed there are no plans for a meeting between the company and SIPTU in advance of the introduction of a work to rule, though the company was always ready to enter into discussions with the union he said.
The management has asked SIPTU to consider the work to rule decision, saying the only threat to jobs comes from the threat of industrial action. Aer Lingus has put off a decision to hire up to 70 extra ground staff pending a resolution of the dispute.
SIPTU will hold information meetings with baggage handlers today but neither side expects these to cause delays. Like yesterday's meetings, they will be held informally with small groups of workers.