Aer Lingus aircraft will be grounded for eight hours on Saturday, June 29th, as relations between the airline and its pilots worsen amid claims of threatened High Court action over an alleged orchestrated illness campaign. Photograph: Colin Keegan, Collins
The move came as the carrier announced plans to cancel 124 flights over five days next week to contain the union’s already-announced work to rule from Wednesday. Capt Tighe said an Aer Lingus pilots’ sickness committee has been contacting union members individually, something Ialpa regards as threatening. “We would like to remind everybody that pilots cannot by law operate aircraft if they are sick,” he pointed out.
Mr Moriarty argued that some collective agreements included practices not compatible with a modern airline, and that Aer Lingus had written to the union seeking to discuss this.