Pilots at Aer Lingus have voted decisively in favour of the deal negotiated with the airline earlier this week which allows for the establishment of its new base in Belfast. Martin Wallreports.
In a ballot result announced last night, 80 per cent of pilots voted to support the agreement. A spokesman for trade union Impact said that the turnout was just under 85 per cent.
One of the key elements of the deal was that in future, aircraft captains appointed to bases outside of the Republic of Ireland would be on seniority rather than through direct-entry competition.
The company said that it had already irrevocably appointed seven direct-entry captains for its Belfast operations before the deal with the pilots' union was concluded last weekend. However, it said that this would be considered a once-off arrangement.
It is understood that the Irish Airline Pilots Association, which is a branch of Impact, has warned the company that the ballot would be considered null and void if it emerged that these seven direct-entry captains had not been irrevocably appointed before the deal was signed.
The row between the company had pilots had threatened to ground the airline from earlier this week.