Aer Lingus pilots asked not to escalate industrial action as Labour Court to hold formal hearing to resolve dispute

Talks with Ialpa and Aer Lingus management ended after 11pm on Tuesday evening.

Donal Moriarty of Aer Lingus described the talks as constructive but Mark Tighe, president of Ialpa, said the airline is not moving from an offer of a 12.25pc pay rise.

He claimed the airline brought “new demands” that the court had not seen before.

The court has requested that final written submissions are made by close of business tomorrow ahead of the court hearing on Wednesday.

The court will issue a recommendation following the hearing.

However, an indefinite work to rule remains in place.

The Labour Court was last night assessing if there is any basis for a deal to prevent more disruptive strikes at Aer Lingus.

It met airline managers and members of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), which is locked in a row over the pilots’ demand for a near 24pc pay rise over a period of three years.

A joint session got under way around 6pm yesterday.

Sources said the court was reviewing whether there was enough willingness on either side to move towards a resolution.

Earlier, the pilots’ union warned it will be “back looking at an escalation” of industrial action if the court’s intervention fails.

It appeared that the parties’ positions were irreconcilable after two attempts at talks last week ended without any progress.

Speaking on his way into yesterday’s meeting, Ialpa president Mark Tighe said there would be more industrial action and more “withdrawal of service” if the intervention fails.

“If this fails today, we are back looking at an escalation,” Mr Tighe said.

“There is nothing that I can see beyond the Labour Court and its extensive experience, as I mentioned before, so in recognition of that we didn’t escalate. But if this doesn’t work, there is not much of another option on the table.”

However, he would not give any details of what form action would take and whether it would mean further days of strikes, saying this would be a “tactical discussion”.

He said he is always hopeful there could be a solution, but two parties have to come to that solution.

Ialpa wants pay rises worth just under 24pc over a period of three years.

It is understood that it lowered its claim to around 22pc at face-to-face talks with airline management last week.

Mr Tighe said the union moved on its initial pay claim of 24pc but claimed the airline would not compromise “at all”.

“Ialpa did make a move,” he said. He said it felt it had been invited to a meeting by the company in the belief that there was a possible solution on the table.

He said the company stated it was not moving at all, which ended the talks.

Mr Tighe said there is a difference of around €5m a year between the parties, and the company made €225m in profits last year.

He said Ialpa has been talking for 22 months and attempted to find a solution, but claimed the company has not. “That should say a lot to people,” he added.

Arriving for yesterday’s meeting, chief corporate affairs officer at Aer Lingus, Donal Moriarty, said there have been 392 flight cancellations to date, covering a period up to Sunday, July 7.

He said the airline will review the “cancellation programme” later this week.

“This dispute is causing significant financial and reputational damage to Aer Lingus and it’s impacting negatively on everyone connected with the company, including our passengers,” Mr Moriarty said.​

When asked if he is concerned about the impact of the dispute on Aer Lingus’ future, he said the repercussions for everyone connected with the airline are serious.

He said he is hopeful some progress can be made.

Ialpa escalated its industrial action on Saturday when hundreds of Aer Lingus pilots marched around Dublin Airport during an eight-hour strike.

The pilots walked at 6am from Aer Lingus’s head office on the airport site and walked past the two terminal buildings twice holding placards and banners.

Pilots then set up a picket line at the main roundabout on the entrance to the airport. They have also been involved in indefinite work-to rule industrial action that began last Wednesday.

Flights have been cancelled by Aer Lingus up until next Sunday as a precaution, but further disruption could be announced.

Both parties accepted an invite to attend the Labour Court issued on Friday, while Ialpa’s disputes committee considered an escalation after talks broke down last week.

The union accepted the invite and agreed not to escalate “at this point in time” but said their work-to-rule would continue.​

Both sides have come under political pressure to resolve the dispute soon; many families are expected to travel abroad as primary schools closed for the summer holidays last week.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has urged both sides to “lock themselves in a room and not leave the room until they sort this out”.

He said “there is absolutely zero public support for this action”, but added he is worried there is “clearly an amount of bad blood in this dispute”.