Pilots’ claim doesn’t fly with Joe Public

The pilots’ strike at Aer Lingus has generated many newspaper column inches and filled up airspace over the past couple of weeks. It’s difficult to believe that, as we head towards another weekend, the dispute over pay has still not been resolved.

The longer this goes on, the less public support for the pilots whose actions have grounded almost 500 flights to date up to and including July 9. Tens of thousands of passengers have been impacted.

At a time when people should be looking forward to their holidays, they are instead stressed and worried about the potential for flight cancellations, and trying to source alternatives.

Irish Travel Agents Association chief executive Clare Dunne said: “People don’t know if they’re going to get on their holidays, and they have been planning them since last year.”

She put it best when she said: “Looking forward to the holiday is so much an important part of the holiday, and that has been taken away from people.”

Aer Lingus has been compensating affected passengers. Readers of this newspaper said that the airline allowed them to book the next available flight and refunded them the difference. It’s also accepting receipts for accommodation (not above three star) and some food allowances (not gourmet). That said, passengers have to spend the money in order to claim it back. For those who have saved and struggled to afford their holidays, that will eat into their spending money. And, who knows how long refunds will take to come through?!

Mere mortals – not on pilots’ salaries – can’t afford to absorb those sort of costs, even in the short-term.

There’s no doubt the saga is causing damage to the Irish tourism industry. It certainly would put last-minute tourists off coming here if they have concerns about their return flights being cancelled.

Dunne said: “They are inflicting damage on Aer Lingus already because people aren’t booking. What we’re hearing around the country is that people are booking with other carriers. Anybody planning to go in the next few weeks is very reluctant to commit to Aer Lingus.”

Other carriers like Ryanair have put on extra flights but, due to demand, the costs seem higher than usual.

The airline’s owners and investors too will be turned off investing in new routes and aircraft putting their money elsewhere.

In simple terms – a request for a 24% pay rise by pilots for what is an already relatively well-paid job seems excessive. The pilots say their request is in line with inflation.

Aer Lingus has offered pay increases of 12.25% on the basis of improvements in “productivity and flexibility”.

Co-pilots with the company start out at about €36,000. A captain at the top of the pay scale can earn about €287,000 a year, although it could take up to 26 years to reach that level.

Even just a 10% pay rise would put them somewhere between €40,000 and almost €316,000. For those at the top end of the scale, the pay rise alone is over €28,000 a year.

There are countless people working in many industries in the private sector who can only dream of those type of pay rises.

The Labour Court has formally intervened in the bitter pay dispute between the company and its pilots.

A formal hearing took place yesterday (Wednesday) with the court expected to make a recommendation shortly.

Let’s hope a resolution can be found quickly so people can get back to dreaming about their great escape.