There are positive signs for Aer Lingus passengers who feared their flights may be thrown into chaos by industrial action.
Talks between the Irish airline’s management team and the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association took place earlier this week aimed at averting threatened industrial action, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, in a row over rosters.
Constructive
Aer Lingus director of human resources Michael Grealy described the talks as constructive and suggested that some progress was made. The parties have agreed to reconvene to see if they can alleviate the threat to passengers.
The argument revolves around pilots claiming they are being forced to work unreasonable rosters due to staff shortages that the company has failed to address.
If the pilots’ planned action takes place, it could cause huge problems for around 30,000 passengers a day. From Tuesday it is expected that they will not work any rostered days off or any annual leave days – and that they will be present for work an hour late, a move which could paralyse the company’s schedule.
Currently, there is a worldwide shortage of pilots with many having been attracted by better wages in growth areas such as the Middle East.
Travel security
During times of uncertainty in the travel industry in general, it’s vital to plan ahead and take out travel insurance before a flight.
Travel insurance can cover medical expenses while overseas; baggage claims; and perhaps most importantly in the existing climate, cancellations. Ideally consumers should take out travel insurance shortly after booking a flight – but be careful not to fall into the trap of booking travel insurance as an add-on to a flight or package holiday. Much more cost effective policies can be found by shopping for travel insurance independently online and by taking advantage of promo codes to reduce costs further.
