Union leaders representing air traffic controllers have deferred further industrial action after agreeing to attend a Labour Court hearing with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) tomorrow morning.
The travel plans of 20,000 people were disrupted by a dispute between Impact and the IAA yesterday, with more than a hundred flights from Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports cancelled.
Impact spokesman Niall Shanahan said yesterday's stoppage was a result of a decision by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) not to re-instate suspended air traffic controllers.
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) claimed that air traffic controllers in Dublin had been effectively operating a “go slow” in Dublin Airport today.
As a result, passengers are having to deal with further delays and disruption at Dublin Airport, according to three airlines, who have filed a complaint with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).
John Halpin, director of operations with Aer Arann, said the usual and customary flexibility and cooperation between air traffic controllers and Aer Arann pilots seems to have been dropped, with pilots now being put through tedious and unnecessary practices by air traffic controllers.
This morning, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey urged both sides in the dispute to go back to the Labour Court to resolve their differences.
He said the only sensible option was for the Irish Aviation Authority and IMPACT to "take a step back" from their row over new technology and resume discussions.
Mr Dempsey said although the Government did not intervene in commercial disputes, the country could not be held to ransom.
A total of 14 air traffic controllers had been suspended by last night by the IAA for refusing to co-operate with new technology.
The authority says the controllers’ stance forms part of a campaign to secure a pay increase and to avoid having to make a contribution to their pensions.
Impact said air traffic controllers were not taking industrial action in pursuit of a pay claim, or over new technologies, but solely because management had suspended staff.
A spokeswoman for the IAA said last night that it would be willing to lift the suspensions of the 14 air traffic controllers if the union would remove the ban on co-operation with new technology and agree to go back to the working arrangements in place prior to the new year.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said that his airline was four-square behind the Irish Aviation Authority in the dispute and said that Mr Dempsey should should tell the air traffic controllers to “to go back to bloody work or sack them”.
“It is one of the few cases where a public sector employer has stood up to blackmail by a bunch of overpaid and underworked public servants,” he said.
The budget airline boss said “it’s blackmail by a bunch of people who want a 10,000 euro pay increase this year, when inflation is minus 5 and when they’re handling 25% fewer flights.”
“I would welcome more strikes, more airport closures now, because we’re better off to lance this boil in the third week of January," he added.
Additional reporting: PA