Industrial action from Aer Lingus pilots commenced on Wednesday morning with no resolution in sight to the ongoing pay dispute. Concurrently to the pilot unrest, a technical glitch was reportedly to blame for a four-hour delay of a Dublin-bound flight from Boston on Tuesday. The industrial action, imposed by the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) members, propagated a serious rule enforcement in the workplace and resulted in Aer Lingus further cancelling 270 flights over the forthcoming week to limit schedule disruption.
While the majority of flights were operational, accounting for over 80% of Aer Lingus airspace traffic, reports from passengers suggested a smooth journey by 10am. However, the widespread unease surrounding the potential disruptions, causing significant worry. One return visitor from San Francisco, Deirdre Daly, expressed frustration and condemned the recent uncertainty to have tainted her Galway holiday, as a dark cloud over her return journey during her concluding week of a month-long family gathering.
Whilst she agreed with the pilots’ pursuit for improved wages, Ms Daly emphasised the need for effective dispute resolution rather than constant conflict.
Moreover, one anonymous couple praised the punctuality of their Tuesday flight from Boston to Dublin despite the disruption fears. Yet, an earlier US departure was confirmed to have been delayed by technical issues, with Boston passengers Aisling Dwyer and Lorcan Twomey toeing the line to take off about 9.30pm due to an engineering hiccup.