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THE PRESIDENT OF the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA) has said the impasse to resolving its dispute with Aer Lingus “sits” with the airline.
Mark Tighe, the president of Ialpa, which represents the pilots, described claims by Aer Lingus that it has “repeatedly sought” to engage with Ialpa as “not accurate”.
The airline said it has sought meetings to discuss ways to increase pilot pay beyond the proposed 12.25% increase.
It also said it has asked Ialpa to re-engage with the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
However, Tighe said the claims were “not accurate”.
“We met them last on Monday and we’ve asked repeatedly since then to meet with them, most recently on the 21st and yesterday the 22nd,” he told RTE’s This Week.
“They stated for the record in the media that they would not meet us unless we were willing to pay for a pay increase. The impasse here clearly sits with Aer Lingus.”
Aer Lingus said it has had to cancel at least 244 flights between next Wednesday and Sunday as a result of industrial action by pilots.
Aer Lingus pilots are set to begin a work-to-rule from Wednesday in their dispute over pay.
They are also planning an eight-hour strike from 5am until to 1pm on Saturday, which would affect around 15,000 passengers.
“We’re not looking to improve our pay, we’re looking to retain our pay from before,” Tighe added.
“If we were looking to improve our pay, the claim would be to meet international competition from the big airlines that we operate against.
“The company have become very aggressive over the last week in that period of time since we met with them last, which was Monday.
“They have set up a pilot sickness review committee, which is not in the agreement, so they are contacting each individual pilot who they believe is excessively sick.
“This is an outright attack and pilot sickness is a significant legal thing because a pilot obviously, by law, cannot be in control on aircraft when they’re sick.
“It’s designed to intimidate.
“I received a letter from the general counsel as a number of others did, accusing me and others of an orchestrated and unlawful campaign of illegal industrial action.
“This is utterly baseless and false”
IALPA is seeking a pay increase of 24%, which it says equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019.
Aer Lingus has described the pay demand as unrealistic and said there have been no pay deals in Ireland that delivered such an increase.
On Friday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said people need to “step back from the brink” in relation to the dispute.
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it’s all relative…Ryan Tubridy received in 2022 and 2021, €515,000 both years. Joe Duffy received the second-highest amount, with €351,000 both years. Claire Byrne received €350,000 in 2021 and €320,833 in 2022.
Pilots flying a plane worth $100-350Mil. Responsible for 160-380 people in all.linds of weather…I want a happy pilot flying me.
@bhap66@yahoo.com: 2 wrongs don’t male a right
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: Medic consultants earn up to & over 500k…not to mention bankers etc
@bhap66@yahoo.com: I’d prefer a good pilot over a happy one!!
@bhap66@yahoo.com: nonsense
@bhap66@yahoo.com: and look at how RTE is doing as a result of that comparison. While i wish it could happen, its an unrealistic request from the pilots.
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: thanks for your amazing insight into this complex subject,
@bhap66@yahoo.com: no they don’t.!! MAX pay for medical consultant is 256K
Would be delighted with a 12.25 increase!!!
@Fabrice Taupe: it’s pure greed. And attempting extortion given the tactics. Full mechanisms there for them but they won’t accept any verdict.
@Fabrice Taupe: go on strike
@Fabrice Taupe: join a union then
@Sickof thisshit: Did you read the article?!?! They’ve been negotiating for nearly 2 years and been to the Labour Court already. It takes alot to get to a strike. It’s not greedy to want an increase so that your salary isn’t devalued by inflation. Big inflation, big raises needed to keep up. Greed by the airline, they said they could improve the offer but the pilots would have to give up some working conditions for it. The airline is happy to play hard ball to maintain massive profits. They don’t care about the customers once they keep a lid on pay. They’re afraid of more claims from other staff as well. Their management coming across terribly on tv interviews. I.R 101, turn the public against the strikers. Threaten them with legal action to break them.
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: The airline sees a. opportunity to change working conditions to suit their terms..This is what it’s all about. I’m sure an agreed figure could be negotiated, but Aer Lingus is looking at the bigger picture. Unions must stand against exploitation.
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: the rest of the country has not gotten 24% increase since 2019…it’s pure greed
@James Robert: Do the maths from Q1 of 2019 to now in the below link as per CSO. Plenty are! Public sector have had 20%. https://www.cso.ie/en/statistics/earnings/earningsandlabourcosts/
@another one? they rejected the arbitration recommendation. Refuse to use options there.
Blackmail of the countrie working families. plain and simple. We won’t forget this either.
@Sickof thisshit: and fair play to them. 9.5% from the LC is a bit of a joke with inflation 20%+, their profits huge, and compared to what the public sector got. Management CAN give them more but won’t and are playing hardball. They already said they could but the pilots would have to sell conditions for it. Conditions should only be sold for increases above inflation IMO. Management are letting this escalate which is impacting customers. It was work to rule initially but because they are threatening staff it escalated to a strike. I don’t want a sick pilot flying me. I’d believe pilots over management about being available to meet. Management PR doesn’t strike me as honest….. Don’t forget it, enjoy flying Ryanair.
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: as someone on the OAP I would be over the moon to have even a junior pilots wages
@James Robert: what sector got 24% a lot of people are on minimum wage of 12.70
@Patrick MC Dermott: exploitation ? Aquarter of the pilots are on salary of 280,000 or more. A raise of 9% recommended by labour court not good enough. 12.5% recommended by independent pilot body and offered by Aer Lingus not good enough. The action has caused untold stress and inconvenience for tens of thousands of innocent travellers. They’re the ones being exploited in this situation. Not pilots. If you’re not happy with 280k + 12% at Aer lingus go find an airline that pays more. Stop exploiting innocent holidaymakers please.
@Margaret Deacon: What sort of comment is that?!?! Yes it would be great if the OAP was what a junior pilot makes. The 4% PRSI that you paid over the years equates to that….. How to bankrupt a country by Margaret Deacon
@Sickof thisshit: no rise since 2019,public sector has had over 20% rise in that time , company made 223 million profit last year,its amazing the amount of people on here tugging their forelock to the boss,
@James Robert: the CEO and the CFO received 2.3 million of a wage last year between them up 1.1 million on the previous year ,the CEO Lynne Embleton is responsible for this strike ,no one else ,rise would cost 30 million, leaving last year’s nett profit at 180 million
@Margaret Deacon: you should have gotten a pilots license then.
As far as I am reading , like most of us, is that the pilots are not going on strike,they are doing a work to rule. They are fulfilling their hourly roster as per their contracts that Aer Lingus drew up for them and that they signed. They are not doing overtime or answering their work phones when on their personal time off , again per a work/leave roster drawn up by Aer Lingus senior management. So let’s buy into any comments made by our leader Mr Harris who will in a couple of weeks time along with his colleagues, the people we voted in to lead this country, close down the government for summer recess while there is still a health/homeless/asylum-refugee crisis raging everyday in this country.
@MIchael Costello: get real half of them have gone sick & there is an all out strike on Saturday causing terrible problems for the thousands of people going on holidays & not forgetting tourists trying to come here
They are overpaid for what they do. Planes can practically fly themselves now and it still takes two of them to drive it. There is only one pilot on a bus who has to make decisions continuously and who works many more hours for a fraction of the wages.
@Jim Connolly: Clueless
@Jim Connolly: exactly autopilot and AI would fly the plan, pilots only needed for landing and take off, 2 percent of the journey. Greedy fat cats they are.
@Sean Money: To be fair, the take off and landing are a kind of important in the grand scheme of things!
@Jim Connolly: That you Michael O’Leary?
@Jim Connolly: Would you be happy to sit in a plane that flies itself. Falling from 40,0000 ft is quite an exhilarating experience
@Patrick MC Dermott: The chances of that are very slight with modern computers. Couldn’t one of the cabin crew hop in and take instructions from the controller if the computer failed.
@Jim Connolly: Now, there’s a great idea. Get rid of the pilots and get the cabin crew to take control. Ryanair should take you on. The fact that the chances of a disaster are slight would be of little comfort to most passengers.
@Patrick MC Dermott: Another thought that occurred to me is why is there any need for two drivers. Surely one is enough and to calm any anxious passengers couldn’t the other one take over the job of one of the four cabin crew members and be on hand to help the other fella if the computer gave any trouble.
@Jim Connolly: Your comment is, laugh out loud, funny!
Give us 25 percent pay rise or the hard working families and children’s have no holidays this summer. Not on your nelly greedy pilots, you have lost the peoples support.
@Sean Money: public sector have had around 20% increases since 2019 with a few more to come…… Nearly half their salary is tax anyway so it goes to the govt. Helps pay for all the welfare!….. I support them against a profit hungry company!
@Sean Money: I support them as so do the vast majority of the people. If you want a pay rise do something about it, instead of moaning about Aer lingus pilots.
When the company they are working for is on track to pocket 220 million in profits and they haven’t seen a pay increase since 2019. I would be kicking off too.
@Jonathan Parkinson: That’s not clean profit, debt servicing and maintenance etc. has to be factored in, this year the return on invested capital for airlines is expected to approach 5%, a lot less than what the pilots are looking for.
@Pat Barry: are you willing to share your thoughts on the bonuses shared between the c level execs? Or do you only hate pilots?
@KB: There are 800 pilots, how many company execs are there? I’m sure every employee gets some bonus or other but when people enquire about pilots’ remuneration I think it’s only right to include their bonuses don’t you? And no I don’t hate or love pilots?
@Jonathan Parkinson: you’ve got your pay rise, 12.5%. If you want more find another airline. If you want a share of profits but shares like everyone else. Stop exploiting holidaymakers please.
@Pat Barry: no ‘bonuses’ received to the tune of millions by pilots. The C suite took home hefty bonuses and are refusing to provide pay restoration to pilots. I don’t disagree with bonuses going to C levels, I’m sure it takes hard work to get there. I do however disagree with it when they have clearly failed to hire or plan appropriately for seats sold for the summer period or provide pilots with remuneration they deserve. This work to rule only serves to highlight the failings of management. They have so far failed to halt industrial action over a pay dispute that has been ongoing for years. The silence of the CEO is deafening. They should never have let it get to this point and now can’t seem to be seen to ‘back down’.
Workers in essential transport services, such as airlines, should not be allowed to strike, and instead should be subject to binding recommendations issued by the independent WRC.
Try a different country – they are free to take action. The company hired them – it didn’t arrest them.
It is interesting how many Journal readers believe that not all workers have the right to strike (even though this is only a 6 hour strike, the rest is a ‘work to rule’ where they just fulfill their contractl). There also seems to be a feeling that if your salary is above a certain threshold then you can’t strike. And surely if your salary has been eroded by inflation that is a reasonable grievance?
Pure greed,the senior pilots are already on 250,000 a year..baggage handlers and other airport staff had no problem accepting the 9% pay rise its the pilots trying to force management over a barrell..
@Sean Mccabe: go and try be a pilot yourself so, you wont be long finding out the years of work and expense that you have to do in order to even come close to flying a big passenger plane. If you think that wage is pure greed look at aer Lingus CEO salary, and oh yeh they get pay rises consistently.
This pay increase will be passed onto the customer. As it WILL NOT be taking from the company’s record corporate profits. This is capitalism.
@9QRixo8H: Well they carried 10.7 million passengers last year. It costs €45 million for the increases. That’s less than €4.50 per passenger per flight.
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: So the profits are 220 million and the 24% increase costs 45 million. And the rest of the 4000 staff will also need increases. Not much profit left for the shareholders is there? Or do they matter? Seems like the holidaymakers don’t matter, shareholders don’t either nor the airline nor the public. Why do you guys think the public would support you? Simple fact is you earn too much to go on strike.
@john logan: First, I’m not a pilot, I wish I was. I just support their cause. Second, based on last year’s profit the pilot increases would have reduced it to 180m, the rest of the staff got 13% some there would still be loads of profit. Third, shareholders own IAG shares who own EI. They made a 3.5 BILLION profit last year and forecast to grow…. If you take a step back you might see that Aerlingus management don’t care about customers, have allowed this to go on for so long and have also escalated it to keep conditions down . They can up the offer but only if pilots give up some conditions. Instead of going to the table again they threatened the pilots and union.
To all those moaning about the amount pilots get paid please check how much the senior managers in Aer Lingus get paid. The directors remuneration went up by approximately 100% last year and mangers bonuses by approximately 50%.
The words sauce, goose and gander spring to mind.
PS I looked these figures up myself but pilots pay is published by nearly all the media, PR companies feeding lazy “journalists” again?
Sack the lot of them , overpaid bus drivers
Greedy clowns
Somewhere in this mess is a compromise. I’m sure there are two sides to the story. We had to rebook our outbound flights for next sat for our familu. Very stressful but we got it done for around the same price as we will get the refund for. We will also get compensation of the order of 1400e so I’m not too unhappy although v stressed. However the company now loses that amount for me and thousands of other customers. The damage to the airline will be quite large and is another nail in the coffin of aer lingus being a better option than ryanair. That will hurt everyone, pilots, staff and the public imo over time. I thought myself calling a strike after the work to rule was a bit of a dick move to be honest as it absolutely compounded the already huge cost and effect of the work to rule
Can’t believe the pilots haven’t been sacked yet
@James Moylan: Why?
@James Moylan: Haha….. Good thing you don’t run a company…… Imagine an airline with no pilots?!?! Great way to run a business!
How much do These Airline Pilots actually EARN ? ! Go figure the Cockpit salaries, Plus the Power of Ransom ! Time to start reassessing the fact that the Computer is up their doing a great job. The Country can’t be allowed suffer due to this monopoly by both the Company and the Pilots.
@vxQ6cYzh: start on, mid level 180 and 20+ years experience 240 + bonuses and 21% pension and 7 weeks paid holidays. The only destination I think Aer Lingus have a monopoly on from the island is Jamaica. I think it would be great if Ryanair could serve the US market. EasyJet coming to Dublin soon will adversely affect both Irish operators.
I think that they are over manned. Why is it still necessary to have two pilots and four cabin crew. Surely with modern computers there is very little for the pilots to do. Also the cabin crew job is quicker with cashless transactions. Why can’t one of the pilots do the job of one of the cabin crew and be available if the other fella wanted a hand. This would reduce the crew but one and save on the wages bill.
@Jim Connolly: A depressed pilot turning the auto-pilot off, springs to mind.
@Noel Allan: or falling Ill.
12.25 percent is already a very good proposal. I bet if it was for the staff on the ground and especially the one for the baggage it would even be way less.
@Dominic Leleu: Other Aerlingus staff negotiated 13%…. Fact check
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