A new joint union-employer initiative has been launched in a bid to resolve the current dispute involving cabin crew at Aer Lingus.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) and the employers body Ibec have invited a representative of management and of the trade union Impact, which represents cabin crew to attend a meeting tomorrow.
In a joint statement Ictu general secretary David Begg and Ibec's director of industrial relations, Brendan McGinty, said: "Both the Ictu and Ibec have considered the current dispute between the Impact trade union on behalf of its cabin crew members and Aer Lingus arising from the rosters introduced to enable delivery of the 850 block hours per annum as agreed under the 'Greenfield' business recovery plan in 2010".
"In view of the serious nature of the dispute, Ictu and Ibec have invited the national secretary of Impact and the chief HR officer of the company to brief them on the issue with a view to seeing if any assistance can be offered towards finding a resolution."
Impact has welcomed the invitation to attend the new talks tomorrow.
In a statement, Aer Lingus confirmed it would attend the meeting tomorrow and said it remained committed to the Greenfield restructuring programme.
The carrier advised customers to continue to check flight status on its website, adding a number of flights have been cancelled over the coming days. Customers are being informed via SMS and email and are being put onto alternative flights.
Aer Lingus had begun booking seats on Ryanair flights for passengers affected by its dispute over rosters with cabin crew.
The former State airline is also to lease a sixth aircraft from Ryanair as it continues to plug gaps in its schedule created by the dispute, which has resulted to date in the removal of 215 Aer Lingus staff from its payroll.
Aer Lingus said some 14 scheduled flights would be cancelled today as the dispute, which is now in its second week, continues to escalate.
As well as the leasing of aircraft from its rival, Aer Lingus has been booking flights, at a discount, on Ryanair’s scheduled services for passengers travelling to cities where both airlines operate.