Aer Lingus pilots vote to accept pay deal

Members of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) have voted overwhelmingly to accept proposals aimed at resolving its long-running pay dispute with Aer Lingus.

The IALPA executive had recommended acceptance of the Irish Labour Court proposals, which included a 17.75% pay rise for pilots over a four-year period.

The results show 85% of IALPA members backed the pay deal on a turnout of 96%.

An electronic ballot opened on Thursday and closed on Tuesday morning.

IALPA's President Capt Mark Tighe said the 85% ballot result meant that his members had "clearly stated they are happy" with the pay deal.

Speaking to the BBC's Evening Extra programme, Capt Tighe expressed regret that the dispute with Aer Lingus had taken so long to resolve.

More than 600 flights were cancelled over the past few weeks as pilots staged industrial action.

But Capt Tighe added: "We didn’t really have a choice other than to stand up for ourselves as pilots who hadn’t seen a pay increase."

He explained that the four-year pay deal consists of "a series of payment over a period of time".

"The last payment is on 1 July 2026, just under two years from now.

"So at that point in time, the Aer Lingus pilots will be 19.2% better off than they are today."

He added that a fifth of pilots on the lower end of the pay scale, along with all new and future joiners, would be "30% better off" as a result of the deal.

The Fórsa trade union, which is an associate organisation of IALPA, congratulated the pilots on the outcome of their negotiations, describing it as "a huge win".

"This is what workers can achieve when they stand together and fight for better pay," Fórsa said.

Capt Tighe said the dispute was just one example of what is happening with industrial relations in the Republic of Ireland at present.

"There's a bigger picture of what's going on, where profitable companies in a profitable economy are essentially hoarding their profits for themselves and not sharing them with their staff," he added.

He argued that employees' salaries "should be protected, at the very least, against inflation".

"I think it's broader than just Aer Lingus - it's a society-wide issue that needs to be discussed," Capt Tighe said.

IALPA held a series of information meetings for members last week, ahead of the opening of the ballot.

As well as pay increases, the Labour Court recommendation also proposed structural changes to pay scales.

This included the scrapping of a crewing agreement that allowed pilots to take more of their leave in the summer months, and the termination of a debt owed by pilots to the company as part of that agreement.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled and thousands of travellers were disrupted due to action taken by pilots in a long-running dispute over pay.

A work-to-rule action began on 26 June and ran for two weeks.

IALPA members also engaged in an eight-hour strike on 29 June.

After endorsing a proposed pay deal earlier this month, the IALPA executive suspended industrial action pending the outcome of the ballot.

Prior to this latest increase, co-pilots salaries could start out at about €36,000 (£30,400), with packages increasing based on actual flying hours.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ had reported that a captain at the top of the scale could be paid about €287,000 (£242,000).

Howver, Capt Tighe explained that this can take up to 26 years.

There are also differences for pilots depending on whether flights are short or long-haul.

Industrial action by pilots at Aer Lingus led to the cancellation of 610 flights.

A total of 573 of the cancellations were pre-planned and there were a further 37 "on the day" cancellations.

The 610 flight cancellations impacted more than 84,000 passengers.

If you were one of the many thousands of travellers impacted by the industrial dispute, you may be entitled to receive money or a voucher if your flight was cancelled.

In the event that a flight you were scheduled to take was cancelled, you will have likely received a communication from the airline, or your agent, detailing your options going forward.

Aer Lingus sets out a number of conditions on their website for cancelled flights due to the industrial action.

Impacted customers have the following options available to them:

Refund in cash, bank transfer or cheque

• You can apply for a refund to the original form of payment, for the full value of your flight.

Refund voucher for future travel

• You can apply for a voucher for the full value of your flight; all vouchers are eligible for use for 5 years from the date of issue.

Refund toward alternative flight arrangements

• You may be able to change your flight online and any fare difference will be reimbursed for changes within the same cabin type as your original booking.

Once your request is reviewed by the airline, you will receive an email to let you know if you were successful or not in receiving a refund.

Please note that If you booked your flight through a third party travel agent, online agent or in conjunction with another airline, you may likely need to contact them in order to request any potential refund.