Aer Lingus passengers can look forward to an end of disruption of flights after pilots backed a 17.75 per cent pay rise ending a dispute that affected more than 90,000 travellers this summer.
Members of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), part of trade union Fórsa, voted 85 per cent in favour of the deal tabled by the Labour Court in a ballot that has run since Thursday.
The decision signals an end to a pay dispute with Aer Lingus that led to a work to rule and strike that hit the airline’s operations in June.
The deal includes a boost to allowances which, with rises in pay, will leave members 19.2 per cent better off by the end of 2026, Ialpa calculates, while also resolving rostering issues that featured in the dispute.
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Capt Mark Tighe, the union’s president, dubbed it the “greatest pay award seen in 30 years” for Aer Lingus pilots.
“Throughout negotiations, management were seeking work practice changes to fund our pay award,” he said. “However, no work practice changes were conceded in this pay dispute, nor will they be in the future.”
He told members that the agreement should be used as a template for future pay talks and acknowledged their “unity and resoluteness” during the dispute.
Ialpa said 96 per cent of its 760 members in Aer Lingus voted in the ballot, which closed on Tuesday morning. The union confirmed the result shortly after 11am.
Aer Lingus welcomed the result “which has accepted the Labour Court recommendation” but did not comment further.
Clare Dunne, chief executive of industry body, the Irish Travel Agents’ Association, said the news was good for the travelling public. “This is a very positive development for intending travellers and the tourism sector,” she added.
The Labour Court recommended the headline 17.75 per cent increase two weeks ago after hearing from both sides five days earlier. Part of the increase is backdated to the beginning of 2023 and the pay deal runs to July 2026.
Aer Lingus agreed to the deal shortly after it was issued by the Labour Court and Ialpa’s executive subsequently recommended it to members, immediately suspending their industrial action, which had run for 14 days.
[ Analysis: Aer Lingus could be facing further industrial unrestOpens in new window ]
The work to rule prompted the airline to cancel 610 flights, 573 in advance and 37 “on the day”, affecting the travel plans of more than 90,000 passengers at its busiest time of year.
Ialpa lodged its original pay claim in October 2022. In January pilots rejected an increase offer worth 12.25 per cent, in line with what other Aer Lingus workers received, made by an internal pay tribunal.
The airline and union went to the Workplace Relations Commission, which failed to break the deadlock, and then to the Labour Court.
Pilots’ rejection of the court’s original recommendation paved the way for a vote on industrial action, which the union completed in mid-June. Ialpa members began their work to rule on Wednesday, June 26th, and halted all duties for an eight-hour strike on Saturday, June 29th, during which about 500 of them marched and picketed at Dublin Airport.
Aer Lingus has yet to quantify the bill for the industrial action, which cost it more than two days’ worth of flights at its busiest and most profitable time of year, along with refunds, rebooking and hiring in other carriers to provide some services. The company will report financial results late next week along with its parent, International Airlines Group, which also owns British Airways and Iberia.
Capt Tighe blamed “management intransigence” for the industrial action in a letter to Ialpa members on Tuesday.
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