Aer Lingus pilots told to accept pay deal or face investment freeze

Aer Lingus has warned its 784 Irish pilots if they do not accept a pay deal offered by the airline its parent company IAG will not invest further in growth, and that industrial action will not change that position. This comes as a date for a hearing on the pay dispute at the Labour Court was confirmed for April 22nd. The dispute has involved intensive negotiations for more than a year between the airline and pilots’ union IALPA, with talks breaking down at the Workplace Relations Commission recently. In a letter sent directly to pilots on Wednesday, Adrian Dunne, Aer Lingus’s COO outlined the backdrop to the dispute and closed with a warning that a failure to reach agreement on a pay deal would be interpreted by IAG as the “pilot body wanting an alternative future”. “As already stated during the annual results presentations [on February 16th] IAG will not invest further in Aer Lingus growth as costs, competitiveness and productivity will not attract an investable return,” Mr Dunne’s letter states. “For clarity, this will result in an inability to acquire aircraft through IAG, with new aircraft being allocated to other IAG carriers and the cascading effects of this for current and future employment and career progression for all employee groups.”<br/>