The threat of industrial action by pilots at Aer Lingus has been stood down until July 1st following all night talks at the Labour Relations Commission.
The decision to postpone tomorrow’s threatened action was taken on the basis of allowing the company time to put in place changes to rosters agreed at the talks.
Tens of thousands of passengers had faced disruption from tomorrow as talks between pilots and management over rosters broke down on Saturday morning.
However, the commission invited the parties to further discussions which got under way yesterday evening and continued through the night.
In a statement released today the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) said both sides reached agreement on a set of proposals presented by the chairman of the LRC after 15 hours of negotiations.
The union said the proposals covered the management of the peak summer period roster and the development of a longer term roster model.
“Industrial action has been suspended until July 1st, in order to allow time to implement agreed proposals on the summer rosters.”
“The long term roster model will be implemented in the winter months, with rules governing the new roster system to be agreed by July 1st,” the union said.
Talks on other issues concerning pilots based in Belfast and Gatwick are continuing at the LRC today.
Aer Lingus said it intends to operate a full schedule from all its bases tomorrow. The airline said customers who changed their bookings may change back to the original date of travel via the company’s website.