Aer Lingus cancelled 34 flights tomorrow disrupting an estimated 2,600 passengers, in an escalation of the dispute over cabin crew rosters.
The airline said today more than 80 cabin crew staff have been removed from the payroll to date as part of the current dispute over the implementation of new rosters. Aer Lingus cancelled 12 scheduled flights today.
A list of tomorrow's cancelled flights is to be published on the airline's website tonight. Only European flights are affected and transatlantic routes will operate as scheduled. But the cancellations will mark the most serious disruption to the airline's services since the dispute began.
In a statement, the airline said it would endeavour to operate 46 round-trip European flights from Dublin tomorrow, but warned there may be further disruptions. It said hired aircraft would be used where possible to maintain services.
It said more than 120 cabin crew employees had refused to co-operate with the new rosters and following individual meetings today, 82 of them have been "removed from their duties and the Aer Lingus payroll".
It said this process was clearly outlined when it wrote to its cabin crew employees last Thursday detailing the new roster arrangements and associated rules.
Impact, the union representing the affected employees, had sought third-party intervention to resolve the dispute but the airline rejected the call.
“We don't see any scope for further talks at this particular point in time,” Michael Grealy, chief human resources director at the airline, told RTÉ.
“Any efforts to engage in extra conciliatory activity amounts to a cynical attempt to backtrack on the 850 hours agreement.”
Forty-five other cabin crew personnel have been asked to attend meetings with management today over a refusal to operate the controversial new rosters and face the possibility of being suspended without pay.
The airline said that as at lunchtime today, 106 cabin crew staff have refused to operate the new rosters.
Flights between Dublin and Malaga, Frankfurt, Madrid, London Heathrow, Amsterdam and Rome have been affected. Passengers are being contacted by text message and email. The airline said they can be rebooked on alternative flights or can request a refund.
An Impact spokesman earlier said the union had asked the Labour Court to intervene because it understood the problem needed to be resolved and "because we are confident that we have a strong case to put before an independent third party".
"Our members are reporting for work but the company is telling them to go home. The airline is operating exactly the same schedule this week as it was last week when cabin crew were working in the same way as they are willing to work today."
Fine Gael transport spokesman Simon Coveney said passengers were being used as "pawns" in the dispute and called on Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey to step in.
The Irish Travel Agents Association last night called on Mr Dempsey to have a mediator intervene in the case to avoid further damage to the industry.
The airline yesterday cancelled three flights while it hired aircraft and crew to operate other services as a result of the dispute with cabin crew over the new roster arrangements.
The airline has argued that a new roster system and associated revised rules are necessary to secure an increase in flying hours for cabin crew to 850 per year as part of its overall cost-saving plan known as “Greenfield”.
It said tonight it "sincerely" regretted the cancellation of the flights.
"The sole responsibility for these cancellations, and the corresponding disruption to customers’ travel plans, lies with Impact trade union members who continue to take industrial action despite 15 months of negotiation, agreement, clarification, conciliation and binding arbitration," the airline said.
Impact has maintained that while cabin crew accepted the requirement in the Greenfield agreement to increase flying hours to 850 a year as part of overall working time, they had not voted to accept rule changes imposed by the company.