Aer Lingus suspended a senior pilot after a dispute over seating non-union cabin crew on an empty Airbus A330 repositioning flight from Barbados to Manchester.
The captain seated attendants in economy despite empty business class, which drew a complaint from a Dublin manager.
Chief Operations Officer Adrian Dunne contacted the pilots mid-flight and directed them to move the crew to business class. The captain refused the directive citing operational authority and filed a safety report upon arrival in Manchester.
The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association condemned the suspension as management overreach that compromised safety and command authority.
Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association shared “management had no right to intervene mid-flight, as such interference could compromise safety and undermine the captain’s command authority.”
