Today's stoppage by Aer Lingus pilots means the company is effectively cancelling services until next Sunday, at the earliest. It could hardly have come at a worse time; the holiday season is getting under way and many people are travelling to the World Cup.
The cancellation of services will cause grave inconvenience to thousands of the airline's customers and will cost the company thousands of pounds of revenue, which it can ill afford to lose at the moment.
Resolution will be difficult, with the company insisting on the introduction of new working conditions which the pilots refuse to accept. However, a way forward must be found - and quickly. Aer Lingus operates about half of all flights into and out of the Republic and any sustained disruption of this service will take a heavy economic toll. It is no exaggeration to say that it would also threaten the very future of the airline.
Like most serious industrial disputes, the conflict has a lengthy and complicated history. The pilots feel they have missed out on a recent pay increase granted to other airline staff and are nonetheless being asked to work a new roster. They say they are paid considerably less than their counterparts in other airlines. The company argues that changing the pilots' working conditions is a key part of its overall survival plan; that the rest of the workforce has gone along with the plan and that an exception cannot be made for the pilots .
Aer Lingus management appears to have taken a strategic decision to face down the pilots and push through the changes. It will be aware of the risks of this approach. The company will come under political pressure if the stoppage is prolonged, although it may feel this will be limited until a new government is formed. There is also a heavy financial cost, amounting to about €2 million for every day the airline does not fly.
Perhaps of even greater concern than the immediate financial loss, is the danger to customer relations. Aer Lingus has already lost five days flying time over the past 18 months; a prolonged stoppage now might lead many customers to give up on the airline entirely. Why book with Aer Lingus if you cannot feel confident that its planes will fly?
For their part, the pilots must accept that they have to participate fully in the airline's survival plan. There has already been third-party arbitration - albeit non-binding - on the new working conditions, which the pilots have not accepted.
The company management - and its board which meets today - also have a responsibility. They must be careful in the language they use and the tactics they employ over the coming days. If they make the wrong calls, there is a danger of widening the gap between themselves and the pilots. This dispute will only be solved when the two sides sit down and talk. And the sooner that happens, the better.