Aer Lingus Regional pilots plan work-to-rule over pay, conditions and union recognition issues

Pilots at Aer Lingus Regional operator Emerald Airlines plan a work-to-rule from next weekend in a dispute with management over pay, conditions and union recognition.

Members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) at Emerald Airlines, which operates the Aer Lingus Regional network, mainly serving Irish and British airports, recently voted for industrial action in the dispute.

IALPA, a branch of trade union Fórsa, confirmed on Friday that members plan a “strict work-to-rule” from Saturday, June 24th. Pilots will refuse to work off days, overtime or any out-of-hours duties, says the union.

Emerald responded that the action would not impact services or disrupt passengers. However, IALPA maintains that the airline has been relying on pilots’ flexibility to avoid cancellations and warns that members are now withdrawing that.

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The union has told Emerald Airlines that it reserves the right to escalate the industrial action and will give the required notice should it decide to do so.

IALPA official Daniel Langan said pilots were surprised that the company had refused to deal with the union.

“Other airlines that previously refused to engage with unions are now happy to negotiate with them to achieve the certainty and stability of a collective labour agreement,” he added.

Mr Langan argued that Emerald was “out of touch” with how best to set workers’ terms and conditions in a competitive labour market.

“The employer’s refusal to engage is why this action is now necessary,” he said.

Fórsa official Ian McDonnell noted that Emerald pilots had been willing to work days off to ensure flights were not cancelled.

He said that Emerald’s continued refusal to meet to discuss the terms of a collective agreement for pilots left IALPA “with no other option than to escalate this dispute”.

Mr McDonnell branded Emerald as “out of step” with other Irish carriers, Aer Lingus and Ryanair, which both recognise and deal with unions.

IALPA sought a meeting Emerald management several weeks ago to discuss pay, conditions and collective bargaining at the airline. Although the company responded, it did not agree to meet.

The sides have not met since, but the union says it has made it clear to management that it is willing to do so at any time.

Mr Langan stressed that members wanted the issue resolved rather than having to resort to industrial action.

The airline said that it had engaged with flight crew from day one and this week had “an overwhelming majority of 70 per cent accepting our new pay and conditions package”.

“We maintain an active and healthy dialogue directly with all of our employees including pilot employee representatives,” a spokeswoman added.

Emerald Airlines is a separate company to Aer Lingus that has been operating the larger carrier’s regional network since March 2022 under a deal agreed between the pair the previous year.

The airline flies between airports in Ireland, Britain and from this summer, Brittany in France, connecting regional centres.

The network is partly designed to feed transfer passengers into Aer Lingus’s transatlantic services at Dublin Airport, a key area of growth for that airline.

IALPA has 52 members in Emerald from a total of 140 pilots. According to the union, 94 per cent of them voted in last month’s ballot.