Airline denies 60-hour week claims

With just 10 days to go before a strike grounds up to 28,000 of its passengers, Aer Lingus has denied cabin crew claims they are having to work 60-hour weeks and accused them of trying to double their paid leave.

The cabin crew, represented by Impact trade union, are due to stage a 24-hour stoppage on May 30.

According to the airline, 204 flights will have to be cancelled if the action goes ahead and there are 28,000 people already booked onto those flights. Upon notice of the action, management stopped taking bookings — but a further 12,000 passengers would have been expected to buy seats on the affected services before the day in question.