Aer Lingus cancels 19 flights today

Cabin crew began strike action at midnight last night, commencing a 24-hour stoppage that will affect the airline's passengers today.

19 flights will be cancelled, with further cancellations on Monday next, as the second phase of the strike occurs.

Seamus Kearney, Aer Lingus chief operations officer said the airline was committed to minimising the disruption to customers.

He said Aer Lingus will carry 18,500 of the 20,000 passengers that were booked to travel on its services today.

The cancelled flights include services to Los Angeles, Washington, Frankfurt, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Munich, Jersey, Faro, Bologna and Malaga.

The dispute is over the failure of Aer Lingus to award pay increases that staff say they are owed, but management demand changes in work practices before paying the increases.

IMPACT, which represents the 1,000 of the striking staff, has accused Aer Lingus of trying to get additional productivity for less money.