Ireland’s Aer Lingus cancels hundreds of flights in pay row, BA News, BA

Hundreds of flights from Ireland will be cancelled from Wednesday as a row between Irish airline Aer Lingus and pilots over pay deepens.

The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA) is demanding a 24 per cent pay hike to compensate for cost-of-living increases and cumulative inflation since a last pay rise in 2019.

The carrier has axed 270 flights affecting some 35,000 passengers due to a work-to-rule action between Wednesday and Sunday and a planned eight-hour strike on Saturday.

Under the work-to-rule which began Tuesday midnight, pilots will not operate outside of hours or accept changes to rosters.

Aer Lingus says that removes the flexibility the airline needs to fly its summer schedule.

Prime Minister Simon Harris urged the parties Tuesday to engage in talks in order to avoid “utter chaos” for passengers and said that the dispute will be settled by “sitting around a table”.There would be “very little sympathy” for anybody involved in cancelling family holidays and disrupting the tourism sector if they are not engaging “intensively,” Harris told reporters in Dublin.

Ireland’s Labour Court, a body tasked with resolving industrial disputes, said Tuesday after separately meeting the parties that it will not intervene in the row for now, and will review next month.