THE TRADE UNION representing Aer Lingus pilots has confirmed it is to attend the Labour Relations Commission this evening to hold a fresh round of talks with the airline in attempts to avoid industrial action set for this week.

The talks between the airline and the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA), a branch of the public sector union IMPACT, are set to resume at 7pm this evening.

Both sides will have 36 hours to resolve a dispute that will otherwise see pilots attend work an hour late on Tuesday and Wednesday.

That proposed action, taken in opposition to the proposed introduction of new staff rosters on Tuesday, would have seen almost all of the airline’s scheduled flights for those two days cancelled – affecting around 30,000 passengers on each day.

The talks broke down in the early hours of Saturday morning, when the more long-term issues of rosters had remained a sticking point – although “considerable” progress had been made on other issues.

Aer Lingus has continued to allow passengers with bookings for flights between Tuesday and Friday to change their bookings for free, or to claim a full refund for their flights.

A similar dispute in January between Aer Lingus and the airline’s cabin crew over the new rosters saw hundreds of staff taken off the payroll, and 22,000 flights being cancelled.