Aer Lingus had planned 260 flights today, the start of the bank holiday weekend, but 35 have now been cancelled, leaving 4,000 passengers stranded. Another 17,000 passengers could face considerable delays although the 5,000 people scheduled to depart before the work stoppage by 1,200 clerical staff at 10 a.m. should have relatively trouble-free journeys.
Fears for long delays later in the day are based on experience of the baggage handlers' two-hour stoppages at the beginning of each shift two weeks ago. These sometimes led to delays of over three hours and the four-hour stoppage by clerical staff, also in SIPTU, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today could have an even more serious effect. Clerical staff are responsible for check-in, reservations, arrivals, boarding and ramp duties.
Passengers on domestic flights and short-haul routes to the UK will be hardest hit by the action. Altogether 14 of the 35 cancelled flights are accounted for by routes between Dublin-Cork, Dublin-Shannon, Dublin-Galway and Dublin-Kerry. Another eight cancellations are accounted for by routes between Dublin-Manchester, Dublin-Birmingham, Dublin-Glasgow and Dublin-Edinburgh.
There are 17 flights rescheduled, of which seven are on transatlantic routes. All of the morning flights have been rescheduled to the afternoon except for the midday departure from Dublin to New York. This has been brought forward to 9.30 a.m. No transatlantic flights have been cancelled.
Every passenger with a reservation affected by the stoppage should have been contacted by Aer Lingus by this morning. The company has also been dealing with 3,000 inquiries a day on its helplines. The Irish number is 1800 404000 and the number in Britain is 0845 9737747.
The company is also advising people to consult the schedule advertised in today's newspapers or visit the Aer Lingus website at www.aerlingus.ie.
Last Tuesday week passengers were stranded when IMPACT cabin crew stopped work for 24 hours. Aer Lingus pilots, who are refusing to work unrostered hours, have yet to clash directly with the company.
Yesterday officials representing SIPTU members in all Aer Lingus and Aer Rianta facilities met to discuss the overall situation and wider industrial unrest cannot be ruled out.