Aer Lingus pilots warn their situation is ‘deteriorating’

Stock image. Picture by Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg

Fearghal O'Connor

The Aer Lingus pilots union has put the company on notice of a “deteriorating situation in the pilot body” at the airline.

Among the issues currently angering some pilots is the changing of arrangements for crews travelling on US flights over Christmas from both Dublin and the airline’s new Manchester base.

There were “a growing number of issues which if not managed correctly will eventually have significant operational outcomes for Aer Lingus”, wrote Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) president Captain Evan Cullen in a letter to Aer Lingus chief people officer Brian Bowden.

Cullen identified other problems including training and scheduling raised by pilots at recent general meetings with the union regarding the airline’s flight operations department

“We are no longer in the business of preventing and/or cleaning up the fallout from problems not of our making,” wrote Cullen, adding that the union had endeavoured to anticipate the issues and propose solutions without success.

Cullen’s concern with the “classification and treatment of Christmas trips” related to the practice of the airline in other years to leave aircraft and their crew for up to four days at US airports such as JFK.

Younger crew in particular would volunteer for the special Christmas duty and would be paid up to $150 (€131) in expenses.

The crew would also be given access to free or reduced price tickets for family members to make the journey to the US for the period.

But this year the airline has indicated to staff it will instead bring a second crew on impacted flights over Christmas, so that they can return to Ireland and will not have to spend Christmas in the US, according to sources.

The row is seen as symptomatic of the growing frustration being felt by pilots at the airline who have suffered a severe cut in earnings since Covid struck.

The airline has been paying its pilots 50pc of their pay and trying to keep as many of them ‘current’. Pilots need at least three take-offs and three landings every 90 days to meet the requirements of their commercial pilot licences.

The pilots’ union has long been a key player in the industrial relations landscape at the airline but over the last 18 months the union had largely stayed out of the rows and negotiations that were under way between management and ground staff and cabin crew.

But sources say many pilots have become increasingly disgruntled in recent times. They are due to return to 80pc pay after being on half pay for more than a year.

With a greatly decreased schedule operating throughout the pandemic, many pilots have had limited flying time – and this has led to a huge amount of frustration among staff, said the source.

Some senior pilots have argued that cutting back on pilot numbers and restoring full pay for those who have remained would be a more sensible approach.

Others have argued it was correct to prioritise retaining the jobs of more junior pilots who would have lost out if such an approach had been taken, said the source.

When contacted by the Sunday Independent, Aer Lingus declined to comment.