Aer Lingus and pilots’ union to resume talks on pay dispute next week

Talks aimed at ending a pay row between Aer Lingus and its pilots are set to continue next week after the sides met on Wednesday.

Members of trade union, the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), are seeking pay rises of more than 20 per cent, which the company says are out of line with 12.25 per cent increases to which other workers have agreed.

The sides met on Wednesday in a bid to resolve the dispute before the end of this month, with both saying afterwards that talks would continue and confirming they would meet again next week.

Aer Lingus said that the airline “remained in discussions” with Ialpa following the meeting, a position the union echoed subsequently. Neither indicated if they had closed the gap between the pair on pay or if they had made progress on other issues that both dispute.

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The Labour Court is due to hear both sides on April 22nd, but Aer Lingus hopes it can resolve the row before then to secure new aircraft from its owner, International Airlines’ Group (IAG). The group must decide on allocating the Airbus jet by April 28th, which Aer Lingus does not believe would allow the Labour Court enough time to adjudicate on the dispute.

The pair referred the issue to the court after talks at the Workplace Relations Commission failed to reach a settlement.

Ialpa told members at the weekend that it had agreed to meet management “without prejudice” to the Labour Court proceedings, for which it was still preparing its submissions.

The union maintains that members have not had their pay increased since 2019, so current salaries fail to take inflation or wages in other European airlines into account.

Aer Lingus disputes these points. IAG has warned that it cannot allocate new aircraft to Aer Lingus if pilots fail to accept increases in line with those paid to other staff as this would drive up costs and result in lower returns to shareholders.