AIR CHAOS

MORE than 2,700 Europe-bound Aer Lingus passengers are this morning scrambling to find alternative travel options after 34 flights to and from Dublin were last night cancelled due to the ongoing rostering dispute.

Many thousands more look set to be disrupted every day for the foreseeable future as the dispute between the management and cabin crew continues to rapidly escalate.

As of last night, 120 cabin crew had refused to co-operate with new rosters introduced by Aer Lingus on Monday. Of those, 82 had been removed from duty and from the payroll following individual meetings with human resources.

As regards today’s disruption, the airline said all transatlantic flights and flights departing from Shannon, Cork, Belfast and Gatwick are planned to operate as scheduled.

However, the 34 flights between Dublin and a host of European destinations will not go ahead.

“Aer Lingus will endeavour to operate 46 round-trip European flights from Dublin on Thursday, but has advised there may be further disruptions. Hire-in aircraft will be used where possible to maintain services,” the airline said.

It laid the blame on cabin crew represented by IMPACT trade union.

Yesterday, IMPACT, which says the rosters were imposed without agreement, stated it had sought the intervention of the Labour Court to see if it, unlike the Labour Relations Commission, could find a resolution.

“We have asked the Labour Court to intervene because we understand that the problem needs to be resolved and because we are confident that we have a strong case to put before an independent third party,” a union spokesman said.

However, the company reiterated it must push ahead with the new rosters requiring staff to work 850 annual block hours. “We are only interested in implementing 850 hours and working to the rosters we have published,” said the airline’s human resources officer, Michael Grealy.

“We don’t see any scope for further talks at this particular point in time.” Yesterday, 12 flights between Dublin and a number of European destinations had to be cancelled leaving more than 1,500 passengers stranded.

IMPACT said that the affected flights formed part of the same timetables that the airline would have worked last week.

It said its members were willing to operate those timetables under the same individual rosters that they were using prior to Monday. “The rosters Aer Lingus is seeking to impose are not part of the Labour Relations Commission finding issued last year or the Greenfield Agreement, which says that any roster changes must be agreed or referred for arbitration, which can be binding,” it said.

Average flying hours have already increased from just over 700 a year to around 830 a year. “The dispute is over how to increase that to the 850 hours agreed in the Greenfield Agreement.”

One of those dismissed from service for refusing to operate the rosters is Aideen Walsh, the cabin crew member featured in a massive promotional poster at the company’s Dublin airport HQ.

“I am very, very fond of the company, I love it to bits,” she said. “It is very unfortunate that it has come to this situation.

“I haven’t refused to work my flight or any of my duties. I am here willing to work. We have agreed to work these 850 hours. We are extremely close to reaching that.”