Up to 20,000 passengers will be affected by Thursday's planned strike by Aer Lingus pilots. The strike looks certain to take place in the absence of a third-party intervention.
The company has already hired three aircraft and crew to operate a skeleton service between Dublin and London and a number of US destinations on the strike-day. About 160 Aer Lingus flights have been cancelled.
In an escalation of the dispute yesterday, a seventh pilot was suspended by the company for refusing to accept rostering proposals which the company is pushing through despite their rejection by the pilots' union, IMPACT.
The union's assistant general secretary, Mr Michael Landers, blamed "macho management" for the strike action.
"Two weeks ago IMPACT made itself available for talks, which could have avoided a dispute. The only response from Aer Lingus was the suspension of pilots without pay, which triggered the strike notice. Now they are threatening to close the airline rather than talk to pilots," he said.
"I think the company is trying to play a divide-and-conquer game between the pilots and other employees."
He said it was unacceptable that the company would try to impose new working arrangements by edict rather than negotiation.
Such arrangements, which entail a reduction in the rest-time for pilots between working days, were "unreasonable and frankly dangerous because they compromise aviation safety", he claimed.
However, a spokeswoman for the company said it did not compromise on safety standards, adding: "Safety was never raised as an issue [by the union\] until now."
A total of 537 pilots work for the airline at present, although 86 are due to leave under the company's survival plan.
The union warned its strike action would continue so long as the company continued to suspend pilots.
"They are threatening to lock people out on Friday if people will not agree to the new arrangements. If that's the case no one will be going back to work," said Mr Landers.
It is possible other unions may decide not to cross the picket lines on Thursday, which would prompt further disruption at airports. However, there is understood to be little sympathy for the pilots among colleagues who have voted to accept restructuring proposals.
Some travel agents flying people to the World Cup have made special arrangements as a result of the dispute.
Ray Treacy Travel is due to fly 400 soccer fans out of Dublin on Wednesday evening rather than on Thursday, as scheduled, in order to have them in Japan for the first Republic of Ireland game.
A spokesman for the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said she would be kept informed of developments. However, he said "there are well defined structures in industrial relations, and this is entirely a matter for the company."
The Labour TD, Mr Tommy Broughan, called for the immediate intervention of the Labour Relations Commission.
Contacts for travellers:
Aer Lingus helpline (for callers in Ireland): 1800 222 221
UK callers: 0845 08 44 444
US callers: 1-800-IRISH-AIR
Weblink: www.aerlingus.com
