Aer Lingus has confirmed that at least 244 flights are now cancelled for next week from Wednesday to Sunday due to industrial action by IALPA pilots.

Next Saturday alone 120 flights have been cancelled, because of eight hours of strike action by pilots, which will impact 15,000 passengers.

The number of flight cancellations next week could increase because of the pilots' indefinite work-to-rule and the impact that this will have on operations, an airline spokesperson said.

Aer Lingus pilots are set to begin a work-to-rule from Wednesday in their dispute over pay. They are also planning an eight-hour strike from 5am until 1pm next Saturday.

The airline had previously confirmed the cancellation of 124 flights during the first five days of the work-to-rule and said it was appalled by the decision to strike.

On Thursday Aer Lingus said it will have to cancel between 10% and 20% of flights in the first five days of the work-to-rule by members of the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA).

IALPA has said that cancelling up to 20% of flights because its members will not come in on their days off raises serious questions about the management of the airline and points to a pilot shortage.

This evening, IALPA president Captain Mark Tighe said Aer Lingus has informed pilots that there are no meetings planned between them "despite IALPA saying they are available for meetings".

"I am always open to meetings but they will of course need to come with an acknowledgement that our claim is reasonable," he said.

In response, Aer Lingus said it is available for meaningful direct discussions with IALPA in order to seek a resolution to this pay dispute.

In a statement it said the airline has "repeatedly sought to engage directly with IALPA on ways to increase pilot pay beyond the 12.25% increase agreed with all other collectively bargained groups, based upon reaching agreement on improvements in productivity and flexibility."

It said IALPA has refused to enter into those meaningful discussions, and it ended direct discussions with the company on Monday 17 June.

It also said IALPA has rejected their request to re-engage with the Labour Court and WRC.

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Cpt Tighe said they continue to seek the 24% pay rise and the reason they are looking at this "large looking number" is because they believe Aer Lingus has neglected pilots' pay.

When asked how he can defend the situation happening to passengers whose travel plans have been impacted, he said he hopes they can understand it.

"I ask our passengers and indeed anyone following this terrible situation to think about if they were in the situation themselves and looking at a loss of earnings due to inflation and others doing the same job being rewarded these monies."

He said he believes the company will come under pressure and accused Aer Lingus management of entering "a union bust phase and their goal is to break the pilots."

He also accused the airline of stepping up their attacks on individual pilots.

He reiterated that yesterday a number of pilots were accused by the airline of breaching the company's social media protocol and they were instructed to attend an investigation/disciplinary process.

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Meanwhile, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke has reiterated calls for both sides in the Aer Lingus pilot's dispute to enter talks.

Mr Burke said that the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court "remain available to the parties to facilitate this necessary engagement, and that is ultimately the framework in which this matter can be resolved".

In a statement this morning, he said that "air connectivity is vital for an island nation like ours, and I am conscious that it is a particularly busy time of the year for holidays that people have looked forward to and worked hard for all year.

Every effort must be made to resolve this dispute and it is vital that both parties act responsibly and re-engage, as recommended by the Labour Court".

He earlier posted on social media urging parties to work out an agreement to the dispute.

Flights to main holiday destinations hit

Irish Travel Agents Association CEO Claire Dunne described IALPA's eight-hour strike next Saturday as "really bad news" for those wishing to travel.

Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, Ms Dunne said that next Saturday would have been a "really busy day" as "it's the first day after the school holidays start, primary schools finish up and all of those families were waiting to go away next Saturday and unfortunately they’ve very bad news today".

Ms Dunne said flights to popular holiday destinations had been cancelled.

"We got through the list of cancelled flights so far for next Saturday, so all of the Spanish, Portuguese, main holiday destinations, Croatia, they have all been cancelled for next Saturday," she said.

Regarding the possibility of IAG, the parent group of Aer Lingus, providing relief to the airline, Ms Dunne said: "It doesn't look like that at the moment."

"I know Aer Lingus are working very hard on it trying to get alternative aircraft, trying to get wet lease aircraft which are fully crewed aircraft to try and operate some flights but it's peak, peak time," she said.

Ms Dunne called on those involved "to get together, sit down in a respectful, sensible manner and work this out".

"We’ve been calling all week for sense to prevail. This dispute will be resolved, it has to be resolved one way or the other sooner or later," she said.

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