Aer Lingus pilots vote for €30m cuts

AER LINGUS pilots last night voted to accept a €30 million cost-savings package which will result in 76 redundancies and a 10 per cent pay cut.

Some 65 per cent of Aer Lingus pilots accepted the proposals of arbitrator Kieran Mulvey in relation to the €30 million in cost savings during a general meeting of the pilots’ representative body Ialpa.

In a statement, Ialpa said that it had accepted Mr Mulvey’s proposals, adding that Ialpa was “eager” to enter discussions with Aer Lingus management on the detailed implementation of the plan.

However, while Ialpa has accepted the proposal “in broad terms”, other issues had not yet been agreed. These include issues over pensions, outsourcing and incremental progress around wage scales.

“There are some aspects of the report that have given rise to concern and we have been given specific legal advice on these matters. Unfortunately, our legal advice precludes us from recommending acceptance of these elements of the report,” a statement signed by the president of Ialpa, Capt Evan Cullen, said.

Ialpa gave its membership an assurance that any final proposed agreement would be subject to ratification by way of secret ballot.

Ialpa also thanked Mr Mulvey and his team at the Labour Relations Commission.

Talks between Aer Lingus and the pilots broke down before Christmas, and led to employers’ body Ibec and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions requesting that both sides commit to an independent arbitration process chaired by Mr Mulvey.

Aer Lingus is seeking to reduce its annual overheads by €97 million and cut its total workforce by 676.