Aer Lingus pilots march around Dublin Airport as 8-hour strike begins

Hundreds of Aer Lingus pilots have marched around Dublin Airport during an eight-hour strike in a bitter dispute with the airline over pay.

The pilots, all in full uniform, set off at 6am from Aer Lingus's head office on the airport site and walked past the two terminal buildings twice holding placards and banners.

The demonstration, which took place in pouring rain, caused major traffic disruption around the airport.

After the march was concluded, pilots set up a picket line at the main roundabout on the entrance to the airport.

The walkout, which will end at 1pm, comes after primary schools in Ireland finished for their summer holidays and when many will be preparing for family trips abroad.

Prior to Saturday's full strike, pilots had been involved in indefinite work-to rule industrial action that began on Wednesday. Almost 400 flights have been cancelled so far, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.

Aer Lingus pilots wanted to ramp up industrial action by announcing another strike but a decision was put on hold at a crucial meeting.

A committee of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association’s (Ialpa) parent union Fórsa decided to adjourn without considering the proposed escalation following a Labour Court invitation to a meeting on Monday.

This meant the disputes committee did not make a decision on the plan for further stoppages that could have grounded more flights.

It is understood the Fórsa committee felt the court’s request for no escalation in the dispute before Monday should be respected. Fórsa and the airline have accepted the court’s invitation.

The Labour Court plans to carry out a comprehensive review of the dispute over the pilots’ claim for a 24pc pay rise over three years on Monday.

If it finds room for negotiation, it may suggest new talks. But it has a challenging task ahead as the exploratory talks it held this week failed to find a basis for discussions. Another round of face-to-face talks, instigated by Aer Lingus, collapsed without much sign of progress.

Passengers will hope that next week’s intervention might finally resolve the long-running row that has led to hundreds of flight cancellations this week.

Aer Lingus said has had to cancel a further 122 flights next week as a result of the ongoing industrial action by pilots.

The cancelled flights are from Wednesday, July 3, to Sunday, July 7.

An eight-hour strike is taking place today while an indefinite work-to-rule is ongoing.

The gap between the pilots and airline is still wide. Aer Lingus wants to discuss productivity measures to improve a pay offer of 12.25pc – but Ialpa has refused to discuss this. It has lowered its pay demand slightly.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan issued a stark warning about the potential outlook for holidaymakers and other passengers if there is no progress on Monday.

“Obviously, this is a crucial intervention and if it fails, it will have the most dire consequences, in my view, including a very serious escalation of industrial action afterwards,” he said.

In a statement yesterday, Aer Lingus said a further 122 flights would be cancelled between July 3 and July 7 to “protect as many services 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 the Travel Advisory page of aerlingus.com,” it said. “These customers will be given the option to change their flights for free, to claim a refund or voucher.

“Aer Lingus fully understands the anxiety being experienced by customers given the uncertainty caused by Ialpa’s industrial action and is giving impacted customers as many options as possible.”

Aer Lingus has urged Ialpa to consider a joint referral back to the Labour Court in a bid to end the dispute.

Ialpa president Captain Mark Tighe said: “We are in a process within our executive and our union where we are considering an escalation in industrial action because the company have informed us that if we don’t agree to work practice changes, they’re simply going to do away with our work practices,” he told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster show.

“The company have escalated, so I would expect there would be some sort of escalation in response.”

Meanwhile, pilots at unions across the US and Britain have rowed in behind their colleagues at Aer Lingus.

Allied Pilots, which represents the 16,000 pilots at American Airlines, is among those to offer its “steadfast” support for the Aer Lingus pilots.

“On behalf of the 16,000 American Airlines pilots the Allied Pilots’ Association (APA) represents, I am proud to pledge our steadfast support for the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association’s efforts to conclude CLA [Collective Labour Agreement] negotiations with Aer Lingus management,” said APA president, Captain Ed Sicher.

He added: “APA has a long-standing history of standing shoulder to shoulder with our Irish brother and sister pilots.”

Mr Sicher said the US pilot union stands ready to “share our knowledge and experience” with Ialpa.

Balpa, the union which represents pilots in the UK, said it also “stands firm” with colleagues at Aer Lingus.

“We urge all members to show support and solidarity with their colleagues at Ialpa,” it said.

Balpa’s general secretary, Amy Leversidge, said that the union has “great concern” about the pilot dispute at Aer Lingus.

The 17,000-strong pilot union at US carrier Delta has also shown its support for Aer Lingus counterparts in advance of Saturday’s strike.

“Please make the walk and ensure that no Aer Lingus pilots are having difficulties getting on their flights,” the union said in a post on X.

The US-based Airline Pilots’ Association, the umbrella group representing 78,000 pilots at 41 US and Canadian airlines, has also backed the pilots at the Irish carrier.

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