Aer Lingus cabin crew to vote on strike action

Air passengers could face travel disruption from next month as Aerlingus cabin crew are to ballot for strike action as part of an ongoing dispute over how many hours they are required to fly in a given year.

The row centres on the company's controversial €97m euro cost-saving plan.

IMPACT trade union has said it wants to ballot members for industrial action as part of the ongoing dispute over revised working hours.

It has accused the airline of rowing back on terms and conditions of employment relating to the number of hours they are required to fly in a given year - last March it was increased to 850 hours per year - but there is now disagreement over how this would work in practice.

It is believed the proposed action would initially be a work-to-rule but would include a withdrawal of labour "should Aer Lingus attempt to take action against any individual IMPACT cabin crew member".

However, Aer Lingus has said it has a mandate after 93% of crew voted in support of the cost saving changes.

The ballot will close on Monday, August 9.