Aer Lingus pilots get €22,800 pay hike

A PAY freeze imposed on 4,000 Aer Lingus staff is to end with pilots getting a special increase of €22,800, as the company prepares to announce a 45% increase in operating profits.

Other staff will get a 9.5% pay rise. Pilots on the top of their scale currently receive basic pay of €119,400, and the pay rise brings in awards that have been frozen for almost two years but still depend on minor outstanding issues to be clarified before it is granted in full.

The company has told its two main unions, SIPTU and IMPACT the 14-month pay freeze ends in March when a series of pay increase will come into operation. A 4% portion of the 9.5% rise is contingent on trade union agreement with what the company claims is “normal ongoing change.” Part of this change includes a 25-minute aircraft turnaround time similar to that already being achieved by Ryanair and which is now becoming an industry-wide target.