Aer Lingus has responded after the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) announced on Friday, June 21 that it is going to mount an eight-hour strike on Saturday, June 29.
Aer Lingus said on Friday that in addition to the 'work-to-rule' industrial action being taken by IALPA from June 26 through July 2, it received a strike notice from IALPA for 5 am through 1 pm (Irish Standard Time) on Saturday, June 29.
"This will cause major disruption to both our customers and our flight schedules," the Irish airline said in a statement on Friday.
"We fully understand the anxiety being experienced by customers given the uncertainty this has caused.
"We are providing all customers with bookings within these dates the option to change flights, or request refunds or vouchers.
"We are also adding additional resources to help minimise any disruption."
Aer Lingus said on social media: "If your flight has been cancelled we’ll contact you directly via email, SMS or through your travel agent to advise you of all the options available to you."
The airline noted that all of its regional flights, operated by Emerald Airlines, and Aer Lingus UK transatlantic flights to and from Manchester will operate as scheduled.
A message to our customers:
The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA) has announced a strike on 29 June 2024 from 5am to 1pm, in addition to the existing work to rule action from 26 June. This will cause major disruption to our customers. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/T1LABKBMFg
— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) June 21, 2024
Earlier on Friday, Aer Lingus said in a statement that it had cancelled 24 flights per day for the first five days of IALPA's industrial action, June 26 through June 30, a total of 124 flights.
The cancellations will impact approximately 4,000 customers per day and 20,000 customers over the course of the five days.
"The level of cancellations is currently at the lower end of the 10% - 20% range," the airline said earlier on Friday.
It has since announced the cancellation of a further 120 flights during the strike next Saturday, impacting 15,000 passengers.
Aer Lingus said the industrial action "is designed to severely disrupt passengers in the peak of the summer season," and added that "without these cancellations, the impact would be a lot worse for customers."
Aer Lingus added that it has automatically rebooked some customers onto alternative flights and has begun emailing all other customers informing them of the cancellation and advising them of their options: to change their flight for free, to request a refund, or to request a voucher.
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