Aer Lingus said today it has leased a number of aircraft and crew to help cater for some of the estimated 50,000 people who will be affected by next Tuesday and Wednesday's industrial action by the airline's pilots.
The airline has placed advertisements in today's national newspapers warning passengers that they are likely to face 'severe disruption'.
Enda Corneille, Aer Lingus
Some 480 Aer Lingus pilots, members of the trade union Impact, have threatened to strike in protest at what they claim is a plan to hire pilots at the airline's new base in Belfast on less favourable terms than those applying to existing staff.
The pilots' union insisted this evening the strike will go ahead but said it was willing to enter talks with the company.
Aer Lingus has said pay rates for aircraft captains and first officers in Belfast would be higher at the early points of the scale at least than those on offer in the South. It said it had not decided finally on pay rates higher up the scale.
Aer Lingus commercial director Enda Corneille said the airline will run a number of services between Dublin and Heathrow, Manchester, Faro, Malaga and Amsterdam. It said it will offer limited services from Cork and Shannon to Heathrow.
No deal has been struck to have transatlantic flights in the sky but Mr Corneille said staff were seeking 747 jets for its US services.
Mr Corneille, the airline's commercial director, said operations would be mainly short-haul across Europe.
"We are continuing to work on it and we are still looking to source further aircraft," he said.
Management at the airline inisisted they would not talk to unions with a strike threat hanging over them.
The company rejected the Irish Airline Pilots Association (Ialpa) branch of trade union Impact offer to go into talks with the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). Aer Lingus insisted the strike threat would have to be lifted first.
Earlier, LRC chief executive Kieran Mulvey said the disruptive action passengers, has the potential to be settled.
"I don't think we need this dispute. I don't think it's desirable. I think potentially it can be settled - all disputes potentially are," Mr Mulvey said.
"I believe there is sufficient time for the parties to sit down to come to some interim arrangement if necessary without putting at risk any commercial decision the company has made in relation to Belfast."
Kieran Mulvey, LRC
Mr Mulvey said he feared for the future of Aer Lingus if industrial disputes continued to hamper the airline.
Aer Lingus is facing opposition to its plan right across the board with tourist chiefs, hoteliers, clergy, industrialists, unions, shareholders and local TDs all vowing to resist it.
The newly formed lobby group Atlantic Connectivity Alliance last night called on the Government to back a Ryanair proposal to block the move.
Ryanair called for an extraordinary general meeting with shareholders - including unions, Ryanair and the Government who together hold more than 50 per cent
of the company - given a chance to vote against the Shannon decision. Aer Lingus has less than three weeks to respond to the call.
Senior Aer Lingus executives are to meet businessmen, industrialists and local politicians in the Mid-West on Friday.
Impact official Michael Landers said the pilots were also willing to engage.
"The problem has been that the airline has refused to engage with us and has pushed ahead to establish a base in Belfast, with complete disregard to its obligations," Mr Landers said.
Mr Landers said this evening that the union remained willing to sit down with Aer Lingus but that the company appeared unwilling to do that. He said that as things stand, the strike will go ahead. The pilots regretted this and had never wanted to go on strike, Mr Landers added.
The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) today called on the Government to intervene to block Aer Lingus from halting its Shannon-Heathrow service and moving operations from the Midwest to Belfast.
"It is now imperative that the Government as a whole provide clear leadership and work with other shareholders in Aer Lingus to ensure the airline continues to retain the Shannon-Heathrow service at its current level," said Michael Vaughan, chairman of the IHF Shannon branch.
A special meeting of the Southern & Eastern Regional Assembly will take place in Shannon tomorrow to dicuss the implications of the Aer Lingus decision for balanced regional development.
The body today expressed "grave concern" about the airline's decision to pull the Heathrow slots from Shannon.
Additional reporting: PA