Limited service during strike

AER LINGUS has leased eight planes and crews to accommodate more than a fifth of the 45,000 passengers whose flight plans have been thrown into disarray by a pilot strike next week.

The airline usually operates up to 100 flights into and out of Irish airports every day. However, next Tuesday and Wednesday it is likely there will only be 15 flights in each direction on each day as all 480 of Aer Lingus’s own pilots engage in 48 hours of strike action in protest at the company’s decision to impose local terms and conditions on pilots at the new Belfast base.

The Irish Airline Pilots’ Association and trade union IMPACT say the company should abide by collective agreements while the company claims it is acting in line with recommendations of the Labour Court and Flynn Report.