Dublin airport was calm on Wednesday morning as Aer Lingus pilots began industrial action in pursuit of a pay rise.
With more than 80 per cent of Aer Lingus flights taking off, most passengers who were travelling said they had not encountered any problems by 10am.
However, many highlighted the stress caused by the uncertainty of the last few days. Deirdre Daly, flying back to San Francisco from holidaying in Galway, branded the dispute a disgrace.
“We’ve been stressed to the gills all week,” she said. Ms Daly, originally from Galway, added that the uncertainty over their flight home clouded the last seven days of a four-week vacation with family.
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She had no difficulty with pilots seeking a pay rise. “But there has to be a better way of dealing with this, they’re at loggerheads the whole time,” Ms Daly declared.
One couple, who did not want to be named, said their flight from Boston to Dublin took off at 9.30pm US east coast time as scheduled on Tuesday and landed early.
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However, passengers said technical problems delayed an earlier flight from the US city for around four hours.
Aisling Dwyer and Lorcan Twomey said their 5.30pm Boston-Dublin flight did not take off until closer to 9.30pm on Tuesday, but added that a technical or engineering issue caused the problem.
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