Aer Lingus strike likely after just six of 668 pilots vote against industrial action

The gulf between the sides in the Aer Lingus pilots’ pay row looked wider than ever on Monday, leaving the carrier facing its first strike since 2002 in coming weeks after union members overwhelmingly backed industrial action. Sources were not optimistic that a strike could be averted, as attitudes appeared to be hardening on both sides. Just six of the 668 pilots who voted in a ballot that ran for three days opposed industrial action. Pilots are seeking pay increases of 23.88%, which the airline maintains amounts to 27% and would boost some long-haul captains’ pay to more than E347,000 in total from E287,000 currently. However, the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) says those calculations apply to just a handful of members, while it points out that newly recruited pilots start at E42,000 and cadets at E35,000. Pilots recently rejected a Labour Court deal recommendation that they accept 9.25% in pay hikes, to which Aer Lingus agreed, while in January they turned down 8.5% tabled by an internal company tribunal. Ialpa president Capt Mark Tighe argues that pilots want their earnings to reflect the 19% cost-of-living increase since 2019, and to match counterparts in British Airways, who he says received a 24% boost, and Lufthansa, which increased pay by 27%. s<br/>