Flights cancelled Aer Lingus: Airline confirms more flights disrupted as pilots begin eight-hour strike - what to do if your flight is affected

The Aer Lingus pilots are staging the strike on Saturday (29 June) in a bitter dispute with the airline over pay. The walkout comes as primary schools in Ireland finished up for their summer holidays and when many will be preparing for family trips abroad.

Despite pressure from the Irish premier and other senior government figures for both sides to “dig deep” to resolve the dispute, there have been no breakthroughs. Members of the pilots group are gathering at 5am and getting a bus to Dublin Airport.

Several hundred pilots are then expected to march around the airport and will picket outside until 9am. The strike will continue until 1pm on Saturday.

The airline has now cancelled almost 400 flights as a result of the indefinite work-to-rule and strike action by pilots. The Aer Lingus website has a list of flights disrupted because of the strike.

It currently lists more than 50 cancelled flights from Dublin airport on Saturday. Up-to-date flight information is available on the Aer Lingus flight status tool or on their mobile app.

The airline's website states that if your flight is affected, you will be contacted by them directly by email or SMS message. Or, if you booked through a travel agent, they will contact you to advise you of your options.

A chance of a breakthrough came in the form of an invite to attend a Labour Court meeting on Monday, which was issued on Friday while Ialpa’s disputes committee considered an escalation. The union formally accepted the invite and agreed not to escalate “at this point in time” but said Saturday’s strike and the work-to-rule would continue.

Aer Lingus and the Forsa union, of which the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) is associated with, also accepted the invite. Ialpa president Mark Tighe said he was not aware whether they would be in the same room or not, as previous meetings had seen management and pilots hold discussions separately.

The pilots are seeking a pay increase of 24%, which they say equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019. Aer Lingus has said it is willing to offer pay increases of 12.25% or above if “improvements in productivity and flexibility” are discussed.

One stumbling block is that the pilots union has said their mandate is to refrain from discussing productivity while the airline is saying it will only discuss higher pay increases if that condition is included. “There’s an opportunity here. If it fails, then an escalation would certainly be realistic,” Ialpa president Captain Mark Tighe said.

Asked about whether other Ialpa pilots who work for other airlines would cross the picket, he said: “The days of not crossing a picket to do your job in another company I think maybe are gone.” Aer Lingus chief corporate affairs officer Donal Moriarty said that the airline had “engaged constructively” in discussions with Ialpa and Forsa.

What to do if your Aer Lingus flight is cancelled

The airline has said passengers with flights booked between now and 2 July have a number of options available. For customers who have booked directly with Aer Lingus, there is the option to change flights online.

The company said it will waive the fare difference and any service fees if rebooking for a later date. There is also the option to request a full refund or a refund voucher, which can be redeemed within five years. Aer Lingus said that passengers who booked through third party must contact those companies directly.