More Aer Lingus flights have been cancelled next week as an indefinite work to rule by pilots started.
The airline said it had to take the step of cancelling 50 additional flights over the course of July 1-2 “in order to continue to protect as many services as possible”.
Industrial action by the Irish Airline Pilots Association (Ialpa) from today (Wednesday) includes an eight-hour strike planned for Saturday.
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The total number of flights cancelled has now risen to 270 due to the pay dispute.
Hopes that separate last-ditch meetings at Ireland’s Labour Court attended by airline management and the union yesterday (Tuesday) would lead to a breakthrough to avert the action were dashed.
The Irish Travel Agents Association had welcomed the discussions and urged both sides to “sit down in a respectful, sensible manner and find the solution that is there to be found”.
But the airline said in a statement to Irish media last night: “Aer Lingus is disappointed that following the Labour Court’s separate meetings with Aer Lingus and Ialpa today, that its assessment is that it is unable to assist in the dispute at this time.
“Aer Lingus has made it clear that it remains available for discussions both directly and through the state’s industrial relations framework.
“Aer Lingus will continue to focus on minimising the disruption caused to customers by Ialpa’s industrial action.
“Aer Lingus is calling upon Ialpa to consider the damage that its continued industrial action is inflicting upon passengers, the company and the Irish economy.”
Itaa chief executive Clare Dunne said: “We are also extremely concerned regarding the cumulative effect of this dispute.
“Many people only get the chance of one holiday per year and they have spent a lot of their money on it – it is hugely disappointing that their long and carefully arranged plans are now in disarray. Therefore we are asking both sides to come to a resolution on this sooner rather than later.”
She said:“Itaa members have been working hard all weekend and are still working on behalf of their customers to minimise the disruption to them and to rebook them and get them away on their holidays.
“The good news is that Itaa travel agents around the country have reported that they have now managed to rebook/re-route or arrange refunds for the majority of their customers who were impacted by the first tranche of cancellations.
“They are now beginning to work on the new list with cancellations for next Monday and Tuesday.
Separately, the carrier said: “Aer Lingus Implementing these cancellations is to enable us to protect as many services as possible for as many of our customers as possible.
“These cancellations will be implemented today and details will be communicated to impacted customers. Details of the services impacted are set out on ‘Travel Advisory’ page of aerlingus.com.
“Aer Lingus is continuing to offer a number of options to customers who may be impacted by the industrial action by Ialpa commencing on Wednesday (26th June).
“Customers scheduled to travel between June 26 and July 2 will continue be given the option to change their flights for free. They will also be able to cancel their flight and claim a refund or voucher.
“These options will be communicated directly to impacted customers as well as travel agents, while the Aer Lingus ‘Travel Advisory’ page will also have up to the minute information on all the options.
“Aer Lingus fully understands the anxiety being experienced by customers given the uncertainty caused by Ialpa’s industrial action and is giving customers as many options as possible, should they wish to change their plans.”
A total of 12 departures from Dublin and one from Cork have been grounded today as well as flights to the Irish capital from Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester and a Heathrow-Cork service.
Aer Lingus regional services operated by Emerald Airways and the airline’s transatlantic flights from Manchester airport are not affected by the pay dispute.