Aer Lingus has warned that a work to rule by pilot members of IALPA trade union next week will inevitably lead to flight cancellations if it proceeds, with a significant cumulative impact expected
The ongoing form of industrial action is designed to disrupt by preventing changes to rosters, with the full cancellation effect only becoming apparent shortly before flights
The airline aims to re-accommodate affected passengers quickly and is seeking support from other airlines to minimise disruption
Customers will be contacted directly with options of refund or re-accommodation in case of cancellations caused by the ongoing industrial action. The airline will contact customers over the next number of days, once it has completed an assessment of the impact and advise them of their options.
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Aer Lingus Donal Moriarty said “i will definitely trigger cancellations and it’s likely to be cumulative with the level of cancellation increasing as time goes by, so it will definitely be significant. It’s an ongoing form of industrial action day after day so its effect will be cumulative. It’s designed to significantly disrupt, particularly with the provision preventing changes to rosters. So inevitably we are going to see some cancellations and perhaps growing levels of cancellations, day by day.”
Aer Lingus said in a statement “the nature of this industrial action will cause a significant impact on our flight schedules. Our focus is on communicating directly with impacted customers when we can and notifying them of their options. We will also be communicating directly with third party agents including travel agents and online agents. Passengers who booked through a third-party should contact their sales agents for any updates. We will do everything we can to minimise the impact for customers. However, it is inevitable that there will be disruption as a result of this industrial action and we will communicate any changes, delays or cancellations to impacted customers as soon as possible.”
