Aer Lingus plans to operate a full schedule starting Wednesday, July 17, after the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) suspended its industrial action on Wednesday evening.
Aer Lingus said on Thursday, July 11 that it is still necessary to cancel some flights up to and including July 16 in order to minimize disruption to customers.
All Aer Lingus Regional flights (operated by Emerald Airlines) and Aer Lingus UK transatlantic flights to and from Manchester will continue to operate up to July 16.
Any customers with canceled flights up to and including July 16 can avail of a number of options.
For those who booked directly through Aer Lingus, customers can rebook flights for a later date subject to the addition of change fees and any fare difference.
Customers may alternatively request a refund or a refund voucher for the full value of the flight to be used within five years.
Customers who booked Aer Lingus flights through a third-party or travel agent are advised to contact the agent directly.
Meanwhile, IALPA said in a social media post on Thursday: "Aer Lingus pilots have returned to full working arrangements today after IALPA ceased industrial action while a ballot of members is pending."
On June 26, IALPA commenced its work-to-rule industrial action, and staged an eight-hour pilot's strike on June 29, in response to the ongoing pay dispute.
The industrial action prompted Aer Lingus to cancel more than 500 flights, with the latest round of cancellations being announced the same day IALPA ultimately agreed to the Labour Court's recommended pay deal.
IALPA had been 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 could not go beyond the 12.5% increase agreed upon with cabin and ground crews without greater productivity from pilots.
On Monday, however, Aer Lingus said it accepted the Irish Labour Court's final recommendation which, according to RTÉ News, is to increase pilots' pay by 17.75% over a four-year period from January 1, 2023, to the end of December 2026.
Aer Lingus encouraged the pilots to also accept the deal, and after seeking and receiving clarification on a number of the deal's elements, IALPA announced on Wednesday night that it would be recommending that its pilots accept the deal and that the industrial action would be suspended.
However, the deal will still go to a ballot for pilots to vote upon after a series of engagements where members can ask questions about the proposal. RTÉ News reported on Wednesday that the ballot is due to open on Thursday, July 18 close on Tuesday, July 23.
IALPA president Captain Mark Tighe told RTÉ on Thursday: "We recommended this deal at this point in time. Two years from now, pilots will be 19.2% better off than they are today and the junior 20% of pilots who suffered through the new scale brought in during Covid, will in fact be 30% better off in two years time."
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