A facilitator is to be appointed in talks between Aer Lingus management and unions on restructuring at the company.
The facilitator is to be in place by Friday to oversee the discussions which Siptu said it hopes will be finished by mid-October.
In a statement Siptu's National Industrial Secretary, Mr Michael Halpenny, said: "Using an agreed facilitator gives us an opportunity to move our discussions forward in a constructive way."
Finding a facilitator that is agreeable to both sides may prove difficult. One union spokesman told ireland.comthat there are probably only half-a-dozen people who could fill the role and their availability at such sort notice could be problematic.
However, both Siptu and Impact, who represent wortkers at the airline, are hopeful a facilitator will be found.
Both sides met this morning after the talks adjourned last evening. The talks centred on restructuring the company and redundancy terms for staff. Staff are guaranteed a minimum payment of €40,000 under the offer.
Some other topics of concern include the cutting of business-class seats and slashing the interline cargo service.