The executive of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) is to meet later to consider a Labour Court recommendation aimed at ending its long-running pay dispute with Aer Lingus.
IALPA will meet to decide whether to recommend acceptance or rejection of the proposals.
It will then be put to an electronic ballot of members.
The Labour Court also proposed the ending of 2022 pay scales and recommended that pilots should revert to a single pay scale.
It proposed the scrapping of a crewing agreement on rostering and summer leave and the termination of a debt owed by pilots to the company as part of that agreement.
It has also recommended increases to the overnight allowance paid to pilots.
IALPA President Captain Mark Tighe said the union will contact the Labour Court to confirm its understanding of some elements of the recommendation.
“In advance of preparations for a ballot – and during which the current work-to-rule is set to continue – the union will ensure pilots are fully apprised of the details of the Labour Court’s recommendation,” Cpt Tighe said.
Industrial action by pilots has so far led to the cancellation of 548 flights up until Sunday 14 July.
Aer Lingus said that the “airline will have to consider the longer-term implications of implementing the recommendation and of this dispute which has been enormously damaging both financially and reputationally”.
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Aer Lingus Donal Moriarty said the recommendation from the Labour Court provides for flexibility and productivity changes.
“The main mechanism that the court decided to use was an increase in the term of the agreement from three years to four years,” Mr Moriarty said.
“They also recommended that an agreement which provided more flexibility in terms of summer leave come to an end at the end of 2024.”
“So that represents a change in terms of productivity and flexibility for 2025, 2026 and indeed beyond,” he added.
In its recommendation, the Labour Court noted that despite extensive engagement by the two sides there has been no discernible narrowing of the gap between the parties.
It also warned of the potential for a very grave and unfavourable outcome should a resolution not be found.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said he hopes there will be a solution to the dispute, adding that industrial disputes only end after “engagement and compromise”.
Speaking on his way into this morning’s Cabinet meeting, Mr Harris said that “we’ve certainly had the engagement” and that he hopes to see a compromise.
The Taoiseach said it would not be helpful for him to express a view on the Labour court recommendation, but said he hopes IALPA considers it carefully.
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Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke urged IALPA to accept the court’s recommendation and ensure the dispute is resolved.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said: “Both the unions and indeed Aer Lingus have a very strong track record of working with our industrial relations machinery to the better and getting disputes resolved”.
The minister said it is important to “move on to the next chapter as an island economy again, and for so many vulnerable sectors that really require connectivity, to be at a premium over the summer months ahead”.
Additional reporting Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
