Labour Court to issue recommendation in Aer Lingus roster dispute; airline says profits hit
The Labour Court will issue recommendations today aimed at resolving the dispute over rosters at Aer Lingus.
Two days of strikes by cabin crew at the airline, planned for next week, have been averted after management and union officials spent more than 10 hours in talks at the Labour Court.
Up to 80,000 passengers could have been affected if the industrial action had gone ahead next Monday and Wednesday.
Speaking on his way out of the Labour Court last night, Michael Landers from IMPACT said both parties would take time out to consider the recommendation being issued today.
"The recommendation will deal with how the roster dispute has to be solved," he said.
"The encounter with the Labour Court has given us some indication of what will be in (that recommendation) and we believe sufficient progress has been made to defer the industrial action."
Meanwhile, Aer Lingus said this morning that "the threat of this strike has caused significant damage to Aer Lingus' trading and forward bookings for several months into the future".
The airline said as a result that its 2014 operating profits would be10% to 20% lower than last year.
"The outcome will depend in part on the speed with which we can win back customer confidence," the airline said.
