AER Lingus will CANCEL 20 per cent of its flights during the first five days of pilots' work to rule strikes next week. The airline said passengers affected will be notified if their flight is cancelled within the next two days, with flights being pulled on schedules between June 26 and 30. Pilots earlier this week served notice of their intention to launch an indefinite work-to-rule from next Wednesday, after the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association v oted overwhelmingly for industrial action in a dispute over pay.
The pilots are seeking a pay increase of 24 per cent, which they say equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019. And Aer Lingus today confirmed they're cutting 20 per cent of flights during the first five days of action, a move which it's understood will impact around 30,000 to 40,000 passengers. It is understood that the cancellations will be biased towards short-haul services.
Passengers will be notified if their flight is cancelled by either email or text communication. Airline chiefs warned: "The impact will cause many flight cancellations – many of which may happen close to the time of travel. "Therefore, in order to protect as many services as possible from the impact of the industrial action, Aer Lingus has to take the step of cancelling between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of our flights on the first five days of the industrial action.
"These cancellations will be implemented over the course of the next two days. "Implementing these cancellations.