Air chaos threat as Aer Lingus staff ballot for action

AER Lingus may be forced to ground flights in the coming weeks after cabin crew decided to ballot for industrial action up to and including strikes in a dispute over working hours.

IMPACT yesterday posted ballot papers to its 1,200 cabin crew members at the airline. The ballot will be completed by August 9 and, if the members give the mandate, action could begin as early as August 16.

The ongoing dispute between management and cabin crew is over the company’s wish to increase cabin crew flight time to 850 hours under the airline’s Greenfield €97m savings plan. The union has agreed to the increase, but problems have emerged in the implementation.