Aer Lingus: Labour Court recommends almost 18% pay rise for pilots

The Republic of Ireland’s Labour Court has recommended a 17.75% pay rise for Aer Lingus pilots in an attempt to end an ongoing pay dispute.

The pilots, who are represented by the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), began staging their indefinite work-to-rule protest on 26 June.

Since then, hundreds of flights have been cancelled and travel plans for tens of thousands of passengers have been disrupted.

The court’s recommendation, released on Monday, covers a four year period from 1 January 2023 to December 2026.

However, the decision is not binding and will now be put forward in a ballot to Ialpa members.

Pilots had initially asked for a 24% pay rise to take inflation levels into consideration since their last pay increase in 2019.

However, the airline is reportedly seeking changes to the pilots’ working conditions before it will agree to any pay rise above 12.25%.

Last week, the court heard from both the union and Aer Lingus in a meeting that lasted more than eight hours.

The court had asked that there be no escalation of the dispute, but the current work-to-rule by Ialpa members remains in place.

On Wednesday, Aer Lingus said it would carefully review the recommendation of the Labour Court.

“The company will confirm its position following completion of that review,” it added.