Pilots at Aer Lingus were last night expected to endorse a new agreement reached in the early hours of yesterday morning between their union, Impact, and company management on the establishment of the airline's new base in Belfast.
The deal will allow the new Aer Lingus base in Belfast to open from December 10th as scheduled.
The agreement, which was brokered by officials at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) after more than 20 hours of talks, also averted a dispute which threatened to ground the airline's fleet from today.
The deal was recommended last night to a mass meeting of pilots at Dublin airport by senior figures in the Irish Airline Pilots' Association (Ialpa) and the trade union Impact.
It was also expected that the meeting would endorse a policy that would see the immediate lifting of a directive to pilots put in place several months ago banning co-operation with management on the establishment of the new base in Belfast.
This will allow pilots at Aer Lingus to begin work on assessing applicants for posts in Belfast as well as providing training for successful candidates.
In return, management is set to return to the payroll seven pilots who had been suspended in recent days for refusing to co-operate with the establishment of the Belfast operation. All 480 pilots at Aer Lingus had faced suspension from today unless they provided undertakings that they would co-operate with the establishment of the new base.
Last night's meeting was expected to endorse holding a ballot on the terms of the agreement reached between the union and management at the LRC.
This ballot could take several days to complete, given the flight schedules of pilots at the airline.
Under the deal, pilots at the Belfast operation will be recruited on local pay and conditions. Similar arrangements will apply to other bases established overseas by the company in the future. A separate, defined-contribution pension scheme will apply for pilots recruited for Belfast. However, pilots in the Republic moving to the North on secondment will retain their existing defined-benefit pension scheme. Pilots in the North transferring to the South will be able to use money in their pension fund to buy into the scheme in the Republic.
Promotions to the rank of aircraft captain at bases internationally in the future will be on the basis of the existing Aer Lingus seniority list rather than by direct entry competition.
However, local rates and conditions will apply. If there are insufficient applicants from the seniority list the company will be allowed to advertise outside.
Under the deal Aer Lingus will also recognise Impact/Ialpa as the representative body for pilots in Belfast. This will allow the union to have a role in the negotiation of future pay and conditions but not those in place on day one of the new operation.
Aer Lingus said yesterday that following the successful conclusion of talks at the LRC it was "pleased to confirm that the threat of disruption to services this week has been lifted and the airline will be operating a full schedule.
"The agreement reached at the LRC, which is subject to Ialpa ballot, means that the new Belfast base will open on time with staff employed on local terms and conditions. The agreement also provides a framework for the opening of future bases on local terms and conditions," it said.
Aer Lingus apologised to customers for the "unavoidable uncertainty" the recent dispute had caused.