Aer Lingus passengers face disruption from June 26th as work to rule announced

Aer Lingus passengers face likely delays and disruption from next week when pilots plan to begin industrial action in their campaign for a 24% pay rise. The Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) notified Aer Lingus on Tuesday that members based in the Republic will, from a minute past midnight next Wednesday, June 26th, start an indefinite strict work-to-rule policy. Pilots will not work overtime or beyond contracted hours, and will refuse management requests to change their rosters. That limits the airline’s flexibility during what is its busiest time of the year. Both the company and union agree this will disrupt, delay and even cancel Aer Lingus flights, as pilots and crew are regularly called on to work out of hours to allow the airline address problems that arise routinely, particularly during summer. The impact on passengers and on the airline would be “significant”, said Donal Moriarty, the airline’s chief corporate affairs officer. “We are assessing all of that at the moment,” he said, adding that the company would start contacting customers immediately.<br/>