Aer Lingus CEO awarded close to €300,000 in shares as pilots and carrier prepare for fresh talks

Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton received almost €300,000 worth of shares in the carrier’s owner, International Airlines’ Group (IAG), days ago as part of a bonus scheme, it has emerged.

The news comes as the company and the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), part of trade union Fórsa, prepare for a fourth session at the Labour Court in the latest bid to end their deadlocked pay row.

A statement from IAG showed that Ms Embleton received 149,271 shares in London-listed IAG worth £244,580 sterling (€288,720) on June 26th.

[ Aer Lingus considering more cancellations as pay talks under way at Labour Court ]

The notice shows that she received shares along with the chief executives of other IAG airlines, including Sean Doyle, who heads British Airways, under a group share awards scheme.

Other beneficiaries included Marco Sansavini, chief executive of Iberia and Carolina Martinoli, head of Vueling, both of which are part of the group.

Aer Lingus confirmed on Tuesday that the award, given in 2021, vested on Wednesday following IAG board approval.

“These awards form part of IAG’s overall executive remuneration mechanisms and are in line with market practice,” said the airline.

Aer Lingus and Ialpa are due back at the Labour Court on Wednesday as pilots continue their industrial action over pay, which has prompted the carrier to cancel almost 400 flights.

The court decided to use its power to intervene in the dispute following nine hours of talks with both sides on Monday.

[ Labour Court using powers under Industrial Relations Act in attempt to break deadlock between Aer Lingus and pilots ]

Any resolution will depend on both sides accepting whatever recommendation the court makes following Wednesday’s hearing.

Pilots could stage more strikes to follow Saturday’s eight-hour stoppage should this latest effort to resolve the dispute fail.

The law allows the court to sidestep the need for both sides to jointly refer a dispute to the body in some cases.

Cap Mark Tighe, Ialpa president, said on Monday the union hoped the court would accept the reasonableness of pilots’ demand for pay increases to match the inflation of recent years.

Ialpa is seeking a boost of more than 20 per cent to members’ pay, but said it had moderated an original claim for 23.88 per cent last week.

The union maintains that the difference between its position and that of Aer Lingus amounts to less than €5 million per year.

However, Aer Lingus says that it cannot agree any increase for pilots greater than the 12.25 per cent accepted by cabin and ground crews earlier this year without extra productivity and flexibility.

The company rejected Ialpa’s suggestion that it tried to introduce new demands at Monday’s Labour Court talks, saying that the issues it raised related to the extra productivity and flexibility that it has previously sought.

[ Aer Lingus and pilots in fresh Labour Court bid to end dispute ]

The airline is weighing further cancellations as the pilots’ work to rule heads into its second week. It has already axed 392 flights up to this coming Sunday, impacting more than 60,000 passengers, to “preserve as many services as possible” while the action continues.

The Labour Court stepped back into the dispute late last week as Ialpa was preparing to escalate its industrial action following the failure of talks with the company.

Wednesday will be the third time in 10 days that the court has dealt with the Aer Lingus dispute. It met the parties separately early last week and again on Monday.

The pair referred the dispute to the court in April, after which pilots rejected its interim recommendation that they accept increases worth 9.25 per cent and attempt to hammer out agreement on unresolved issues at the Workplace Relations Commission.

Ialpa members subsequently voted overwhelmingly for industrial action.