Two Aer Lingus pilots at Manchester Airport have resigned safety roles in support of a suspended colleague, it has emerged.
Trade union the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) voted no confidence in Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton and chief operations officer Adrian Dunne in a dispute it says was sparked by “management interference in an operational flight”.
Two pilots at Aer Lingus’s Manchester base on Monday resigned safety roles they held in support of a colleague who’s suspension sparked the row between the union and the airline.
They resigned their responsibilities as pilot managers in operations and safety, but remain employed as pilots.
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Aer Lingus will be able to deploy someone from within the group or hire someone from outside the organisation to take over those duties, it is understood.
The dispute between the airline and its pilots blew up after Aer Lingus last week suspended a captain at its Manchester base, where cabin crew have been striking for higher pay.
The airline branded Ialpa’s motion of no confidence in its executives as inappropriate and ineffective, saying the incident leading to the suspension is the subject of both a fact-finding exercise and an investigation.
Ialpa president Capt Mark Tighe pledged to consider all legal options to protect members and ensure safety.
“The processes referred to by Aer Lingus are in regard to an individual pilot and are not the subject of the no-confidence motion,” he said.
“The motion was solely brought about due to executive management’s interference in an operational flight and the chief executive’s indifference to that issue.”
The captain who has been suspended flew an Aer Lingus aircraft from Barbados to Manchester early last week. The only passengers on board were members of a cabin crew who were not on flying duty, known as a “positioning crew”.
They had not taken part in the cabin crew strike as they were not union members.
The captain assigned them economy class seats. Their manager complained to Aer Lingus in Dublin as such crews normally sit in business class.
Mr Dunne contacted the aircraft mid-flight to say that the positioning crew could sit in business class.
The captain did not comply with this but made a safety report after landing. Management suspended him last week.
Ialpa maintains that Mr Dunne had no authority to instruct the captain on the crew’s seating as this had implications for the aircraft’s balance and safety. The union also says he should not have contacted the aircraft mid-flight.
Aer Lingus is investigating the safety report, while its fact-finding exercise follows a subsequent complaint from one of the positioning crew.
The airline normally suspends staff who are the subject of such complaints.
Ialpa figures have dismissed any suggestion that their members brought industrial relations issues on board the flight.
