Aer Lingus said today bookings had started to suffer as result of a dispute over working hours that has cancelled flights and forced staff off the payroll.
Some 280 members of cabin crew at Aer Lingus have now been taken off the payroll for refusing to operate new rosters, which were introduced unilaterally by the company.
The former State carrier said last week the financial cost of the disruption was not material, adding it could hit financial performance if bookings started to suffer. "Definitely yes," Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington said today when asked whether bookings were down as a result of the dispute.
"It has had a negative impact on bookings . . . People hate uncertainty. Last year we had the ash, then the snow in the winter and now this."
Mr Barrington said on RTÉ it was impossible to know the precise financial cost of the dispute because the airline did not know when it would come to an end.
Aer Lingus and the Impact, the union representing cabin crew, agreed on Friday to arbitration over the dispute.
Aer Lingus has leased aircraft and crew from other airlines, including domestic rival Ryanair, to continue its operations during the strike. Around 10 per cent of its flights are being cancelled since the dispute started last week.
Mr Barrington, who is also the chief executive of aircraft leasing company Babcock and Brown Air Ltd, said the estimate by the Impact the dispute was costing Aer Lingus €400,000 a day was "significantly over-inflated".
Reuters