Strike action at Aer Lingus has been called off after the airline agreed to withdraw compulsory redundancy notices issued to 10 pilots.
The breakthrough came after talks between airline managers and the IMPACT union at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) went on into early morning.
In return for the withdrawal of the redundancy notices, IMPACT has called off a one-day strike planned for February 11th.
Mr Kieran Mulvey, chief executive of the LRC, which hosted the 12-hour talks, recommended both sides accept the compromise.
Calls for industrial action were supported by 97 per cent of the 489 pilots who voted in a ballot after 10 junior pilots were issued with compulsory redundancy notices.
Pilots had also initially complained their redundancy packages were "discriminatory" compared with those offered to other staff, but Aer Lingus has already offered to level out severance deals across the company.
Despite today's breakthrough, the airline still needs to shed 80 pilots, and it remains to be seen if any will accept the pay-off deal by February 15th.
Today's agreement also provides for an arbitrator to oversee the implementation of that plan. An airline spokesman said it "should pave the way for a resolution to this dispute through the early arbitration on the changes in the company's survival plan".