About 100 pilots at Aer Lingus have written to management at the airline expressing an interest in operating from its planned new base in Belfast, it emerged last night.
Sources close to the Irish Airline Pilots Association (Ialpa) said that the pilots had written individually to Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion stating that they would be prepared to move to Belfast, subject to terms and conditions being agreed with their representative body. A spokesman for Aer Lingus was unable to confirm the pilots' letter last night.
Sources said that the move could be aimed at indicating to the airline the level of interest that existed in transferring to Belfast from within its existing pool of pilots.
Aer Lingus is seeking about 30 pilots to operate its new base in Belfast, which is due to come into operation from December 10th.
On Friday, Aer Lingus effectively rejected proposals put forward by Ialpa, which is a branch of the trade union Impact, which were aimed at resolving the on-going row over the Belfast base. This dispute almost led to a 48-hour strike at the airline in August.
Aer Lingus said on Friday that the Belfast base would come into operation on December 10th "with or without the agreement of Ialpa".
Ialpa had proposed that pilots for the Belfast base should be recruited in Dublin on terms currently applying in the Republic before being sent on secondment to the North.
It also proposed that all collective agreements which currently applied in the Republic should also apply in Belfast. It also sought that all contracts and disputes regarding Belfast should be governed by Irish laws.
Ialpa proposed that all pilots recruited for Belfast would be members of the existing pension scheme. It also sought that all pilots on what is known as the merit-based seniority scheme at the airline would be entitled to bid to any vacancy or secondment.
Aer Lingus said that the Ialpa proposals served "no basis" for a resolution.
It said that the proposals would not only see the existing restrictive practices in the Republic being brought to Belfast, but also the introduction of new ones.
Aer Lingus had previously proposed that existing pilots could transfer either temporarily or permanently to Belfast.
However, it said that they would have to accept different terms and conditions while in Belfast.
