In a dispute over a new roster system, some 50 Aer Lingus employees have refused to comply with the new system, forcing the Irish airline to stop paying 20 staff and relived them of their duties. However the airline stated that the personnel had not been sacked. As a result the Irish airline was forced to cancel three flights yesterday.
Aer Lingus said a flight from Dublin to Chicago and its return leg had been cancelled and a flight from New York to Dublin. On Monday the airline was forced to cancel a return flight to Boston. The airline has cancelled ten scheduled flights today, to and from Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Madrid and Malaga.
The Irish Travel Agents Association has called on Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey to ensure that an industrial relations mediator intervenes in the dispute.
ITAA Chief Executive Simon Nugent said it was astonishing a dispute over rosters could erupt in such a manner and bizarre that the airline wouldn’t have contingency plans to keep what he called important scheduled routes in operation.