Aer Lingus pilots will vote no confidence in the airline’s chief operations officer Adrian Dunne and are threatening to extend that to chief executive Lynne Embleton, in a row they say has safety implications.
Their union, the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), is seeking urgent talks with Ms Embleton on Monday ahead of an extraordinary general meeting to discuss “interference from senior non-flying management” in the operation of aircraft while in flight.
Ialpa will ask members to vote on a motion stating that Aer Lingus pilots in their capacity as “frontline guardians of aviation safety for all and in their promotion of safety first at all times, have no confidence in chief operations officer Adrian Dunne”.
It is understood that the union will add Ms Embleton to that motion if she does not respond to its request for a meeting on Monday.
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The latest dispute between the airline and its pilots blew up after Aer Lingus suspended a captain late last week.
He flew an Aer Lingus aircraft from Barbados to Manchester early last week. There were no passengers on board except cabin crew who were not on flying duty, known as a “positioning crew”.
The captain told the crew to sit in economy class after take off. Its manager complained directly to Aer Lingus in Dublin.
Mr Dunne contacted the aircraft directly to say that the positioning crew could sit in business class if it wanted.
The captain did not comply with this. He made a safety report after landing following which management told him late last week he was suspended.
Ialpa maintains that Mr Dunne had no authority to instruct the captain on where the positioning crew should sit as this had implications for the aircraft’s balance and therefore its safety.
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Under aviation safety rules, the flight commander is the sole person responsible for the safety of the aircraft and everyone on board, including crew and airline staff.
Aer Lingus branded the Ialpa executive’s decision to propose a motion of no confidence in Mr Dunne as “inappropriate”.
“There are two separate ongoing processes underway, a safety investigation following receipt of a safety report and a fact finding process following concerns raised by an employee,” said a statement.
“Both of these processes are being run in accordance with the procedures applicable to them and it is important that the confidentiality and integrity of the processes are not subject to any outside interference.”
The positioning crew did not take part in the cabin crew strike at the Aer Lingus Manchester base from October 30th to November 2nd as they were not members of trade union Unite.
The pilot’s suspension relates to the complaint that the airline says is the subject of fact finding.
Ialpa figures dismissed any suggestion that their members brought industrial relations issues on board the flight.
