Aer Lingus jobs threatened

In Ireland, Aer Lingus is operated by AER Arann. The company has told its 350 staff their jobs are under threat as its pilots remain on course to strike next week amid rising tensions at the airline.

The company, which operates the Aer Lingus regional services under a franchise agreement with the bigger airline, told staff that it will have to consider issuing them with protective notice.

It pleaded with pilots to “grasp the commercial realities” of the economy. It’s the latest move in a row that is likely to result in travel chaos for thousands of passengers next week.

Aer Arann’s 100 pilots issued the company with strike notice this week after a break down in pay talks that they say have been dragged out for over a year.

“Protective notice is but one option, and always a last resort, among the challenges that we have to now confront,” said an Aer Arann spokesman.

He said the company, which carried one million passengers last year, is on a recovery path and hopes to be profitable by next year.

“But no company, particularly an airline that depends on consumer confidence and operational certainty, can sustain prolonged strike action,” he added.

“We all must grasp the commercial realities of where the economy finds itself, particularly in circumstances where the long term viability of good companies and jobs are put at risk.”

But in a document seen by the Irish Independent, the pilots insist Aer Arann has breached a number of terms of an agreement brokered in July last year – something the airline disputes.

A pilot committee has claimed that the airline failed to act on proposals submitted by pilots last January to establish an agreed fatigue protocol for the carrier.

The committee claimed that the “important safety issue had been completely ignored by Aer Arann management”.

Aer Arann denied this. It insisted the issue was raised with pilot representatives at an April meeting but that they advised management they were not dealing with the issue.