PILOTS AT Aer Lingus are to undertake a work to rule from today in a row with the airline over rosters.
As part of the limited industrial action pilots will not report for duty at times when they are rostered for days off or during annual leave.
Aer Lingus said last night it did not anticipate immediate disruption to its flight schedule as a result of the dispute. However, it said the planned industrial action was unpredictable in nature.
The airline said it had been engaged in wide-ranging discussions with the the Irish Airline Pilots Association, which is a branch of the trade union Impact, in recent weeks in relation to a number of issues but mainly concerning rostering.
“The discussions had made good progress and we find it outrageous, particularly at this time of extreme economic uncertainty for the entire nation of Ireland, that the association has chosen to threaten Aer Lingus customers with industrial action.”
Captain Evan Cullen of the association last night said it had sought details from the company of its planned summer schedule for next year but this had not been provided.
He said that management had initially asked for two weeks to consider the request.
However, he said that had been three or four weeks ago and the issue had not been dealt with.
The association had strong concerns about rosters which were applied by the airline last summer.
Mr Cullen described the rosters which had been in force last summer as “malicious”. He said that in some cases pilots had been rostered continuously for 15 days with only 30 hours off in the middle.
He said that the association was not seeking to undermine productivity or the cost base at the company but wanted to see rosters that were fair and humane for pilots.
Aer Lingus said it wanted to assure customers that it would do all in its power to prevent disruption to their travel plans.
“We will inform customers through all available channels of communication if any disruption in service is imminent.”
Aer Lingus warned the markets several weeks ago that pilots had voted for industrial action in a dispute over rosters.
Cabin crew at the airline have been engaged in limited industrial action for the past six weeks in a separate row over rosters. This work to rule has not disrupted flight schedules at the airline.