Travellers in Aer Lingus dispute advised not to panic – agent

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Aer Lingus pay dispute continued at the expense of those booked to travel with the airline.

There were 392 cancellations up until Sunday, July 7, with Chief of Corporate Affairs Officer at Aer Lingus Donal Moriarty warning that this may increase later in the week.

With thousands of passengers affected and uncertainty looming, Manager of Cavan Travel Siobhan Geraghty said “very little” holidaymakers in the county have been affected by the cancellations so far.

“They [Aer Lingus] have protected the sun destinations,” she said, giving Lanzarote, Tenerife, Malaga, and Gran Canaria as examples.

“It’s mostly been cities [impacted],” she said.

“We’ve only had a handful of bookings where we’ve had to re-accommodate people," said Ms Geraghty of their clients booked to travel with Aer Lingus.

“It has not been too troublesome so far but that could change any time,” she warned.

She reported that in the case of cancellations, Aer Lingus have been giving refunds or changing the flights dates.

“We try and re-book people but, at this time of year, everything is quite busy so that can be difficult but we have been very lucky so far.”

Advice

She gave the following advice to passengers flying with the airline in the coming days and weeks.

“I wouldn’t panic,” she said, adding that she hopes the situation will be resolved “sooner rather than later".

“If it doesn’t get any worse than what it has been, it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Aer Lingus have been very good so far in rearranging and sorting people out.”

Siobhan emphasised “the absolute importance of having good travel insurance".

“It’s so important to take that [travel insurance] out with travel disruption when you’re making the booking,” she said, adding that it’s “no use” getting insurance a week before the flight is scheduled.

The dispute arose as Aer Lingus pilots are requesting a 24% pay rise, deeming their request is in line with inflation.

The company is seeking agreement on productivity and flexibility in return for any pay increases that go beyond the 12.25% agreed with other workers at the company.

At the time of going to print, the Labour Court was set to formally intervene in the bitter pay dispute between the company and its pilots.

The move came after both sides were involved in more than eight hours of talks at the court that ended late on Monday night.

A formal hearing is now expected to take place today (Wednesday) with the court making a recommendation thereafter.