Talks to avert tomorrow's strike at Aer Lingus broke down last night. Only inbound flights from North America and some early-morning short-haul arrivals from Britain and Amsterdam will operate.
Details of the inbound flights are in an advertisement on this page. Customers with reservations for Friday should contact the company's freephone line at 1-800-77 77 71 to arrange alternative bookings.
The line will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. today. Flights affected by the strike are also listed on www.aerlingus.com
The chief executive of Aer Lingus, Mr Michael Foley, met SIPTU shop stewards and officials yesterday evening for three hours, but no progress was reported.
Time for further talks effectively ran out once the deadline for placing advertisements in today's newspapers was reached. With the company having to leave 17,000 of its 20,000 passengers stranded, and facing losses of £2 million, it issued a statement condemning the strike.
Further industrial action was damaging to customers, employees and the company, it said. "With pay settlements agreed only 10 weeks ago and the airline under increased pressure in the marketplace, SIPTU's decision to close the airline for the second time in a week defies logic.
"The current pay settlements are fair and equitable to each group of employees and involve substantial improvements in pay and conditions."
SIPTU's national industrial secretary, Mr Noel Dowling, said his members had no option but to proceed, in the absence of any offer from the company. He accused the company of refusing to engage in intensive talks to address the problems, saying:
"At the talks earlier today Aer Lingus said that they could not meet their clerical and operative staff's claim for pay equity with other grades. "This is despite the fact that they accepted and implemented two agreements with SIPTU last November and December, in the full and clear knowledge that if any other grade got a substantial pay increase without having to give productivity in return, SIPTU would seek exactly the same for its members.".
Mr Dowling said SIPTU remained available for talks.