Planned strike called off at Aer Lingus

Almost 500 Aer Lingus pilots that had planed a two-day strike have called it off. The protest was against the Irish airline moving its base of operations from Shannon to Belfast. Staff of the airline were angry that their wages may be lower if the airline is based in the northern Irish city of Belfast and not in the Republic.

This is not the only aspect of Aer LIngus operations that has its employees in fear of their jobs. The transfer if its route to London Heathrow from Shannon also has people up in arms.

Ownership of Aer Lingus is spread between the Irish State, unionized bodies and Ryanair. Aer Lingus plans to recruit 30 new pilots for its new base in Belfast, which is part of an investment and expansion scheme that will see a £100 million investment in the company.

To compensate for the rerouting of Heathrow flight, Ryanair, a 28% shareholder in Aer LIngus will add additional flights from Shannon under the Ryanair name. Rynaair had also said that if the strike were to take place, it would add flights to compensate and keep travel running smoothly.

www.aerlingus.com