AER LINGUS is to begin a disciplinary process today against cabin crew who have refused to operate new rosters introduced unilaterally by the company.
The airline said yesterday that 175 members of cabin crew, who are represented by the union Impact, have been removed from the payroll since the current dispute began over a week ago.
Separately yesterday, the airline warned that, while it was trying to operate a full schedule of flights, it could not rule out further disruption to services due to the dispute. However, it said it expected any disruption would be “minimal”.
Last Friday, Aer Lingus said it would offer cabin crew who had been taken off the payroll a further opportunity to operate the new rosters. It warned that if they continued to refuse to operate the rosters they would face a disciplinary process that could ultimately lead to their dismissal.
The disciplinary process, which is to get under way today, also has an appeal mechanism, and it is unclear how long it will take for any outcome to be known.
Meanwhile, Aer Lingus has declined to comment on the cost of its contingency arrangements to allow it to maintain services during the dispute. At the weekend Impact claimed the bill for hiring aircraft and crews, as well as other costs incurred during the dispute, could be at around €400,000 per day.
However, an Aer Lingus spokesman said last night the costs arising from loss of bookings would far outweigh the cost of hiring aircraft and crews.
As the dispute entered its second week yesterday there was still no indication of any intervention or talks aimed at bringing about a resolution.
Impact has referred the issue to the Labour Court. However, the company has said that after 15 months of engagement there was no further scope for talks. It has said the new rosters are essential to give effect to a cost-saving plan which involves increasing flying hours for cabin crew to 850 a year.
The union says the new rosters are excessively onerous and in breach of the cost-saving agreement. Impact says the mounting costs include:
Hiring aircraft and crews, which the union estimates could be some €40,000 for a European round trip and over €250,000 for a transatlantic round trip. The union estimates that at least 10 aircraft a day are being hired;
- Refunds to passengers where flights were cancelled;
- The opportunity cost of idle Aer Lingus aircraft, which are expensive capital assets;
- The cost of hiring outside staff to conduct disciplinary hearings against cabin crew;
- The salary costs of pilots left with no work because hired aircraft have their own crew;
- Running newspaper advertisements.
In a statement on the airline’s website yesterday, Aer Lingus said while it was seeking to operate its full schedule, “there is the potential for some disruption to our schedule arising out of the ongoing industrial action by cabin crew represented by the Impact trade union”.
“In the event that this leads to any flight cancellations, Aer Lingus will inform customers via SMS message and e-mail. To assist any customers affected by flight cancellations, we have activated a change-for-free and refund request facility on aerlingus.com.”