Potential for summer chaos as Aer Lingus pilots vote for strike action in pay dispute

Aer Lingus pilots could potentially go on strike any time from next Monday. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Aer Lingus pilots have voted overwhelmingly for a second time in less than a week to take industrial action in a move that could spark a summer of chaos for travellers.

Aer Lingus members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) voted even more comprehensively in a paper ballot taken at the weekend than they had done electronically last week. 99% voted in favour of industrial action over the weekend as opposed to 98% last Tuesday.

The vote means that Aer Lingus pilots could potentially go on strike any time from next Monday.

Pilots at the airline are seeking a 23.8% pay rise, as opposed to the 9.25% which the airline has agreed to on foot of a Labour Court recommendation dating from May.

IALPA president Captain Mark Tighe said the vote amounts to “an incredible reaffirmation of our mandate for industrial action in pursuit of a meaningful pay offer”.

He said that Aer Lingus’s intervention in the matter, having called into question the transparency of the initial electronic vote, was “unconscionable”.

“The effect of Aer Lingus management’s intervention last week has served only to further antagonise pilots. They are now more determined than ever,” Capt Tighe said.

The Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) voted 99% in favour of taking industrial action up to and including "full withdrawal of labour". File picture: Sasko Lazarov/© RollingNews.ie

Aer Lingus, meanwhile, noted the outcome of the fresh ballot, saying in a statement that any decision to strike “would be entirely unnecessary and would result in significant disruption to the airline’s customers and to other employees”.

The airline said that its offers “to continue to engage in meaningful direct discussions with IALPA and to request the support of the Workplace Relations Commission in order to further explore solutions” has, at this point, been rejected by IALPA.

Last week Aer Lingus formally requested that 15 days’ notice be given by IALPA of any intention to strike, while the legal minimum notice that can be availed of is one week.

At that point union sources indicated that a full strike could be initiated sometime within 14 days.

Aer Lingus typically carries some 40,000 passengers per day during the summer high season. Should a strike eventuate, it’s estimated that as much as 95% of those passengers would see their flights cancelled.

Aer Lingus pilots have not been officially on strike since 2002.