Transport

Aer Lingus dispute: Will my flight take off this week?

Q&A: What should passengers with July bookings do, and could the dispute get worse before it gets better?

Ialpa called an all-out pilots’ strike for an eight hour period between 5am and 1pm on Saturday. Photograph: Fintan Clarke

Conor Pope
Mon Jul 1 2024 - 13:08

Is there any sign the dispute at Aer Lingus is coming to an end?

Well, both parties are due at the Labour Court today and as long as they are talking – or even talking about talking – anything is possible. It is worth noting, however, that industry sources are downbeat that a resolution will be easy to find. Ialpa has suggested it might be willing to lower its pay claim from just under 24 per cent to closer to 20 per cent but that with management not offering anything much beyond 12 per cent in the absence of increased productivity or flexibility, the two sides still appear to be quite a distance apart.

And what has the impact of the strike been so far?

Around 400 flights have been cancelled since the first day of the industrial unrest last Wednesday and as it stands, the airline has announced a wave ofcancellations up to and including Sunday July 7th. Tens of thousands of people have seen their travel plans thrown into disarray although the airline has been able to reaccommodate most people so far.

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What routes are being targeted for the cancellations?

Last Saturday was the worst day of the dispute so far because Ialpa called an all-out pilots’ strike for an eight hour period between 5am and 1pm. That saw many flights to key holiday destinations such as Malaga and Faro cancelled. On other days the bulk of the cancellations have been on short-haul business routes to airports in cities including London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt.

And how is the airline and the travel sector managing the disruption?

People scheduled to travel over the next week are being given the option to change their flights for free. They will also be able to cancel their flight and claim a refund or voucher. The airline and travel agents have also been rerouting some passengers and getting them on to flights as close to their original departure time as possible.

Why are so many flights being cancelled if there is only a work-to-rule?

Because we are in peak holiday season and all airlines would expect to call on staff to work extra hours above and beyond what they are rostered for during those peak times. The work-to-rule means pilots will refuse to do that. Aer Lingus has had to make the decisions on which flights to axe early because the work-to-rule would have otherwise have unpredictable consequences, including last-minute flight cancellations.

Will the dispute get any worse?

Ialpa could call more all-out stoppages in the days ahead – although they do have to give at least seven day’s notice of a strike. And while the work-to-rule has been managed well so far, Aer Lingus is vulnerable to any air traffic control or weather issues that might lead to delays.

Why is it so vulnerable?

Because if an aircraft is delayed for any reason, the outbound pilots might say they can’t fly because if they do they will be out of hours because of the work-to-rule. And if that happens there will be late notice cancellations and chaos at airports and airport gates which is the nightmare scenario for the airline.

What are passengers with July bookings to do?

There is not much that can be done except wait and see what happens next. The airline has been e-mailing all impacted customers informing them of cancellations and advising them of their options: to change their flight for free, to request a refund or to request a voucher.

And how much has the strike cost Aer Lingus so far?

Industry sources have suggested it has already cost it close to €10 million when all the refunds as a result of cancellations and the collapse of bookings are totted up.

Conor Pope

Conor Pope

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Pricewatch Editor

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