Aer Lingus said today, July 8, that it will accept the Irish Labour Court's final recommendation regarding the ongoing pay dispute with the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA).
“Aer Lingus has reviewed the final recommendation of the Labour Court and has decided to accept it," the airline said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
"The airline will have to consider the longer-term implications of implementing the recommendation and of this dispute which has been enormously damaging both financially and reputationally.
"Aer Lingus encourages Fórsa / IALPA and pilots to accept the recommendation of the Labour Court and end their industrial action.
"We would like to thank the Labour Court for its work in issuing both its interim and final recommendations.”
The statement from Aer Lingus comes roughly three hours after the airline said it would be reviewing the Labour Court's final recommendation, which was reportedly handed down around lunchtime Irish time on Monday.
IALPA commenced work-to-rule industrial action on June 26, as well as an eight-hour pilot's strike on June 29, as part of an ongoing pay dispute with Aer Lingus.
The industrial action has prompted Aer Lingus to cancel more than 500 flights through July 14; the latest round of flight cancelations was announced on Saturday.
IALPA is seeking a pay rise of nearly 24% to take account of inflation since their last wage increase in 2019. Aer Lingus, however, had said it cannot go beyond the 12.5% increase agreed upon with cabin and ground crews without greater productivity from pilots.
Representatives from both parties have met with the Labour Court over the past two weeks in an effort to end the dispute and industrial action.
According to RTÉ News, the Labour Court's recommendation to increase pilots' pay by 17.75% covers a four-year period from January 1, 2023, to the end of December 2026.
The court recommended that agreed 2022 pay scales be terminated on the date of acceptance of the recommendation and that pilots should revert to a single scale from that date.
It also said that the elimination of elements of a 'debt' owed by pilots should stand, notwithstanding the termination of the 2022 scales.
The Labour Court also recommended that an overnight allowance to be increased by 10% with effect from the date of acceptance of the recommendation and a further 5% with effect from October 1, 2025.
According to RTÉ News, on Monday after the Labour Court's recommendation came down, Captain Mark Tighe, President of IALPA, said the executive of the union will consider the Labour Court decision before issuing a recommendation to members on whether to accept or reject the proposals.
"I'm not going to comment on the details of the recommendation, other to confirm that we have it and now the executive has to consider it," Captain Tighe said.
"There are a number of our members who are actually flying today and haven't even seen it yet so we would hope to have a full executive meeting by tomorrow afternoon.
"In the meantime, there are a couple of items in it that we need to confirm our understanding of," he said.
"This is perfectly normal, any time a document is published, the company may well be doing something similar themselves.
"Once we have confirmation of our understanding, the executive will then be able to make a decision as to whether to recommend acceptance or rejection," Tighe added.
Once IALPA decides on its recommendation it will conduct an electronic ballot. It will also hold members' meetings allowing it to answer any questions that pilots may have.