Aer Lingus Planned Strike 6th June Advice needed

Fantom J

Hi, I'm travelling to New York with Aer Lingus on 11th June and I'm very concerned about their planned strike. Does anyone know what is the normal procedure with situations like this. Will Aer Lingus refund me my fare paid with enough time time organize alternative flights. Should I be looking for alternative flights now or will they arrange this for me. At the moment I can get flights with another airline for the same date that I need to travel, but not sure what I should do. I can't get through to the Aer Lingus customer service for them to advise me. Anybody else in the same situation or any Aer Lingus Reps with any advice as to what I should do would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

J.

Del2005

Contact your travel insurer. They'll let you know what the procedure is re booking new tickets etc.

No point in booking other flights till you know you'll be paid.

Plazaman

Aer Lingus in LRC today and unions tomorrow, more than likely will be resolved without a strike happening (the last two were anyway). Hold off if you can until Friday morning, should have an idea of the outcome by then

Fusion158

Generally the airlines won't give you a refund or make alternative arrangements until your flight is cancelled. I am going to San Francisco via Amsterdam with KLM on the 11th June and nothing can be done until Aer Lingus officially cancel the flight.

LXFlyer

Fantom J wrote: »

Hi, I'm travelling to New York with Aer Lingus on 11th June and I'm very concerned about their planned strike. Does anyone know what is the normal procedure with situations like this. Will Aer Lingus refund me my fare paid with enough time time organize alternative flights. Should I be looking for alternative flights now or will they arrange this for me. At the moment I can get flights with another airline for the same date that I need to travel, but not sure what I should do. I can't get through to the Aer Lingus customer service for them to advise me. Anybody else in the same situation or any Aer Lingus Reps with any advice as to what I should do would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

J.

No full refund will be made unless the flight is cancelled. At that point Aer Lingus will offer to rebook you or give you a full refund.

Until that time normal rules apply - you may only be entitled to a refund of some of the fare (depending on the conditions applying to your fare) if you decide to take another flight before Aer Lingus advises you of the status of your current flight.

At present we have no indication of what flights are cancelled or not. Presumably contingency plans are being put in place by Aer Lingus and a revised schedule will be published in due course.

Basically as the other posters have said - sit tight and wait until Aer Lingus get in touch with you directly.

Fusion158 wrote: »

Generally the airlines won't give you a refund or make alternative arrangements until your flight is cancelled. I am going to San Francisco via Amsterdam with KLM on the 11th June and nothing can be done until Aer Lingus officially cancel the flight.

In your case as you're booked your entire trip with KLM, if the dispute does happen and flights are cancelled I'd imagine they will probably rebook you via another route such as via Paris with Air France. It will be their responsibility to sort out the entire trip - so again sit tight.

omg a kitty

Is there even teh slightest possibility that this could drag on to the 20th? I have Aer Lingus to Manchester on 20th June and then connecting flights from there to Qatar

LXFlyer

omg a kitty wrote: »

Is there even teh slightest possibility that this could drag on to the 20th? I have Aer Lingus to Manchester on 20th June and then connecting flights from there to Qatar

At the moment that is an impossible question to answer.

Talks are ongoing at the LRC and hopefully the dispute will be resolved there without any disruption taking place.

Fantom J

Thanks for all the replies. I may just sit tight and hope that they reach an agreement on Friday.

J.

omg a kitty

Fantom J wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I may just sit tight and hope that they reach an agreement on Friday.

J.

AL looks quite happy to let this go ahead

LXFlyer

omg a kitty wrote: »

AL looks quite happy to let this go ahead

With respect we don't know that.

With most disputes there's usually a lot of stuff said in public for optical reasons - things can be quite different at the actual talks.

The talks are still ongoing and that means there still could be a solution to this.

Dacian

omg a kitty wrote: »

AL looks quite happy to let this go ahead

I agree with Xflyer, we don't know what is really going on as both sides will make statements to the media that have to show a certain attitude.


However I will paraphrase you and say that EI mgmt were quite happy to allow this situation to deteriorate to this point, as they did with the cabin crew dispute. The pilots have been discussing this roster problem since last summer. It looks as if EI mgmt will only talk frankly with their staff if they are being threatened.

Surely the very title 'management' means you should be dealing with and/or solving problems in your company rather than prolonging and/or inflaming disruptions.

omg a kitty

lxflyer wrote: »

With respect we don't know that.

With most disputes there's usually a lot of stuff said in public for optical reasons - things can be quite different at the actual talks.

The talks are still ongoing and that means there still could be a solution to this.

Dacian wrote: »

I agree with Xflyer, we don't know what is really going on as both sides will make statements to the media that have to show a certain attitude.


However I will paraphrase you and say that EI mgmt were quite happy to allow this situation to deteriorate to this point, as they did with the cabin crew dispute. The pilots have been discussing this roster problem since last summer. It looks as if EI mgmt will only talk frankly with their staff if they are being threatened.

Surely the very title 'management' means you should be dealing with and/or solving problems in your company rather than prolonging and/or inflaming disruptions.

For the sake of my travel plans, I hope youse are right

Sierra Oscar

Guess what day I am due to fly with Aer Lingus . . . ? Yes that's right, Tuesday. :rolleyes:

I'm flying from Heathrow to Shannon following a connecting flight from JFK with American Airlines. At least the long haul flight is not with Aer Lingus.

mgmt

Why are the pilots listening to this union still? Didn't the union recommend them to pump 1000s of their money to buy shares which then tanked.

Bigcheeze

So it looks like the strike will go ahead on Tuesday as talks have broken down with no plans to restart. Anyone know if AL will go for a full shutdown to force the staff to go unpaid and shorten the strike or will they attempt to maintain the schedule as much as possible?

Bearcat

mgmt wrote: »

Why are the pilots listening to this union still? Didn't the union recommend them to pump 1000s of their money to buy shares which then tanked.

not 1000s but tens of 1000's.....capts on average when everything added up put near a 100k in......they'd b lucky to see 20k of it now.

Essien

I'm supposed to fly with AL to Frankfurt at 4pm on Tuesday to get a connecting flight to Singapore->Brisbane.

Can anyone offer even a rough idea of how likely it would be for this flight to go ahead? Obviously very difficult to answer but hopefully somebody here will know more than I do (which is nothing:o) about this kind of thing.

Snow Leopard

The reality Essien is that you know as much as anyone .(ie. very little) As it stands I reckon there's a 60-70% chance we could see significant disruption to services from Tue, with the majority of the European schedule cancelled.

Prepare for the worst would be my advice.

jurahnimoh

How will this effect ryanair and other airline passengers due to travel out on the days the strikes are proposed?

Snow Leopard

They won't be affected....aer lingus pilots only fly, strangely enough, for aer lingus.

cuterob

do u think they'd have this sorted somehow before saturday?!?! clutchin at straws?!

dannyirish06

I reckon if anything we could see only 25% of the schedule cancelled. Remember the pilots aren't going on full out strike, that are working to rule, so aren't working planned hols or normal days off. Yea they will be turning up 1 hour late for duty so expect flights to be delayed but the majority will still fly unless to a slot controlled airport and no new landing slot can be obtained. Problems will get worse as the day goes by as crew begin to run out of hours, unless mgmt will tell them to report 1 hour later than planned.

Thats what I think anyway, and yes im quite worried too as I am suppose to be travelling on the 105 to JFK on Friday and im hoping as its the 105 there's a better chance of it flying than the 109 if they were to cancel one of the JFK flights.

Bigcheeze

Snow Leopard wrote: »

They won't be affected....aer lingus pilots only fly, strangely enough, for aer lingus.

No need to be a dick.

Bigcheeze

dannyirish06 wrote: »

I reckon if anything we could see only 25% of the schedule cancelled. Remember the pilots aren't going on full out strike, that are working to rule, so aren't working planned hols or normal days off. Yea they will be turning up 1 hour late for duty so expect flights to be delayed but the majority will still fly unless to a slot controlled airport and no new landing slot can be obtained. Problems will get worse as the day goes by as crew begin to run out of hours, unless mgmt will tell them to report 1 hour later than planned.

Thats what I think anyway, and yes im quite worried too as I am suppose to be travelling on the 105 to JFK on Friday and im hoping as its the 105 there's a better chance of it flying than the 109 if they were to cancel one of the JFK flights.

Pilots are working to rule partly because they want to have their cake and eat it. I.e. Cause disruption to the airline but still get paid. They could go on like that for weeks. Airline may just cancel the schedule to bring the issue to a head. By allowing everyone to change flights next Tuesday and Wednesday it sound like full stoppage is a possibility.

philologos

Moved my incoming flight to Heathrow to Monday, but if my return flight is cancelled on Wednesday what are my other options, or should I say what responsibility does Aer Lingus have towards me?

dannyirish06

honestly i now think it will be a full schedule cancellations, just got word, any flights from tuesday til friday inclusive can now be changed free of charge. about to change my flight to monday.

Shelga

I'm supposed to fly from Birmingham to Dublin on Tuesday evening. Should I just book the Ryanair alternative now or wait it out? Seeing as AL aren't actually posting any information on their website about whether Tuesday's flights are DEFINITELY cancelled.

Fcuking ridiculous anyway.

Bigcheeze

Shelga wrote: »

I'm supposed to fly from Birmingham to Dublin on Tuesday evening. Should I just book the Ryanair alternative now or wait it out? Seeing as AL aren't actually posting any information on their website about whether Tuesday's flights are DEFINITELY cancelled.

Fcuking ridiculous anyway.

If you can cancel the EI flight and book the ryanair for same money, I would.

Bigcheeze

philologos wrote: »

Moved my incoming flight to Heathrow to Monday, but if my return flight is cancelled on Wednesday what are my other options, or should I say what responsibility does Aer Lingus have towards me?

Another airline (bmi, city jet, ryr) or wait until al can accommodate you. There'll be heathrow Belfast aer lingus flights which are unaffected.

Shelga

Bigcheeze wrote: »

If you can cancel the EI flight and book the ryanair for same money, I would.

AL will only refund me about €40, and the Ryanair flight is currently priced at £80, or ~€95. Going to lose money no matter what I do anyway. But AL won't compensate. Shower of cnuts.

seamus

Shelga wrote: »

AL will only refund me about €40, and the Ryanair flight is currently priced at £80, or ~€95. Going to lose money no matter what I do anyway. But AL won't compensate. Shower of cnuts.

But your flight hasn't been cancelled. Why would they refund you for a non-cancelled flight?

AL are in the **** right now. Their financial results aren't great and they're under continued pressure all over the shop. The european schedule is their bread-and-butter and it's holiday season. I can't see them being stupid enough to go ahead with significant reductions in their flight schedule.

philologos

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Another airline (bmi, city jet, ryr) or wait until al can accommodate you. There'll be heathrow Belfast aer lingus flights which are unaffected.

I suppose this will be under the EU conditions here:

Article 5 of the Regulation sets out the assistance available to passengers where a flight is cancelled. Where a flight is cancelled, passengers are entitled to reimbursement of the full cost of their tickets for the parts of the journey not made and for the parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger’s original travel plan together with, where relevant, a return flight to the first point of departure at the earliest opportunity or re-routing to their final destination at the earliest opportunity or re-routing at the convenience of the passenger to the final destination subject to availability of seats. In addition, passengers are entitled to meals and refreshments reasonable to the waiting time and two telephone calls or faxes or emails. If the re-routing is the day after the planned flight, passengers are also entitled to hotel accommodation where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary or where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary. Transport should be provided between the hotel and the airport.
By contrast with rights on a delay, passengers on a cancellation are also entitled to monetary compensation. The amounts vary according to the distance of the flights. Passengers should receive 250 euros where the cancelled flight is for 1,500km or less; 400 euros where the cancelled intra Community flight is for more than 1,500 km or is a non intra-Community flight for 1,500 to 3,500km and 600 euros for all other flights.
These amounts may be reduced by 50% where passengers are offered re-routing and the arrival time is no more than four hours than the scheduled arrival time of the flight originally booked.

Is the airline obliged to pay compensation where the cancellation is beyond the control of the airline?
[...]

Article 5.3 provides that the air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The Regulation gives the following examples of extraordinary circumstances: political instability; bad weather; security risks; unexpected flight safety shortcomings; strikes that affect the operation of an air carrier and air traffic management decisions.

Fusion158

Well I see that AL are now allowing people travelling Tuesday up to Friday inclusive to change or cancel their flight. Why couldn't they include Saturday as well

Snow Leopard

There won't be any confirmed cancellations until Monday at the earliest as there's still time to have the issue resolved. Admittedly as each hour passes by the chances of seeing the dispute resolved before Tuesday are looking increasingly unlikely. Contingency plans will have been put in place so we'll probably still see a very limited schedule operate for the first day or two IF the issue is unresolved. Unlike January though, FR won't be in a position to offer their services.
It's not by coincidence that industrial action has been planned for the second week of June.

Killinator

Are AL obliged to offer an alternative flight,
As it stands I'm due out to CDG on Wednesday morning, theres no ferries, and a Ryanair flight is excessively exspensive,
Also have paid train tickets which I'll probably miss too, and there doesn't seem to be any alternative:mad:

Fusion158

I wonder if they will contract in other airlines to run some of the flights, especially on code share flights. It'll be interesting to see what they will do in the next day or so.

Sierra Oscar

I'm not sure if it is down to AA or Aer Lingus to provide an alternative flight based on this scenario?

Egh could do without this hassle tbh . . .

Locker10a

mgmt wrote: »

Why are the pilots listening to this union still? Didn't the union recommend them to pump 1000s of their money to buy shares which then tanked.

The pilots are listening to the union because managment wont listen to the pilots! Pilots told managment of their concerns of the shortage of pilots and how it will compleatly mess up their rosters in December last! Managment had six months to sort this issue but they didnt bother their arses! To busy counting their bonuses to care! I mean how hard is it work out how many pilots you need to operate your full timetable! Its simple logistics! During the cabin crew dispute managment dismissed crew for eating lunch etc and cause more disruption to us passengers!
Im due in Berlin with Aer Lingus but thanks to their ****ty ignorent managers that might not happen. They dont seem to give a f**k about customers or staff alike :mad:

philologos

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I'm my sure if it is down to AA or Aer Lingus to provide an alternative flight based on this scenario?

Egh could do without this hassle tbh . . .

It would make one think about whether to book Aer Lingus again really.

Bessarion

seamus wrote: »

AL are in the **** right now. .................I can't see them being stupid enough to go ahead with significant reductions in their flight schedule.

Unfortunately I can see EI mgmt being that stubborn.
They could end this immediately by simply telling the pilots they will work 5 on, 2 off, 5 on, 3 off. With proper scheduling the pilots can work long days while on duty. The EI pilots want a roster similar to the FR pilots. Ryanair flight crew (I am told) do 5 on, 3 off, 5 on, 4 off. The EI pilots do not want to work any less or get paid more, they just want to do their work in blocks to maximise time off.

Do you want to have a pilot flying you who has had a single day off in the last 10-12 days? Or who has had 3 days off in the last 20 days?

And if EI are paying their UK so little that they are all leaving (resulting in staff shortages) maybe they should look at what they are offering new pilots in the UK?

iPlop

Bessarion wrote: »

Unfortunately I can see EI mgmt being that stubborn.
They could end this immediately by simply telling the pilots they will work 5 on, 2 off, 5 on, 3 off. With proper scheduling the pilots can work long days while on duty. The EI pilots want a roster similar to the FR pilots. Ryanair flight crew (I am told) do 5 on, 3 off, 5 on, 4 off. The EI pilots do not want to work any less or get paid more, they just want to do their work in blocks to maximise time off.

Do you want to have a pilot flying you who has had a single day off in the last 10-12 days? Or who has had 3 days off in the last 20 days?

And if EI are paying their UK so little that they are all leaving (resulting in staff shortages) maybe they should look at what they are offering new pilots in the UK?

It's madness, EI cabin crew and pilots are the best I've seen in a long time ,I have only had flights to the states with EIN and I've done the route during disputes within the airline, and always the cabin crew and pilots are very helpful and accommodating, I was able to bring my daughter into the cockpit last year and all the crew were amazing.


It's a credit to them they don't let the shít get in the way of their job.

Killinator

Sink The Banana wrote: »

It's a credit to them they don't let the shít get in the way of their job.

Unfortunately, the crew and management do let this sh*t get in the customers way,
And whatever way you cut it, p*ssing off your customer base is always bad,
All the while as they're still glorifying their 75th year in 'business'!

crazyderk

We're suppose to fly on friday to Malaga, I noticed the notification that you can apply for a change of flight free and apply for a refund on the website
we just applied for a refund on AL website and booked with Ryanair, cost us 150 euro extra :mad::mad::mad:

My worst case scenario now is that AL will find someway of getting out of the refund and we'll be out our original money too :eek:

and looking at the AL website,

When you apply for a refund on the website it says

2. Apply for a Refund
Passengers who wish to cancel their bookings may also do so by filling out the Flight Disruption Refund Form. Click here. (link didn't carry forward)
Full refunds will only apply to cancelled flights. All other refunds are subject to the normal fare rules.

Going by that last line, "Full refunds will only apply to cancelled flights"
Does this mean if our flight doesn't get cancelled we won't get a refund?

Edit : that section I quoted was for general cancelations In the paragraph above it which is specific for the Tues to Fri

Customers who wish to cancel their booking for travel on these days may also do so and will receive a full refund.
Looks like I'm ok, still pack of w*nkers really

FlutterinBantam

Locker10a wrote: »

The pilots are listening to the union because managment wont listen to the pilots! Pilots told managment of their concerns of the shortage of pilots and how it will compleatly mess up their rosters in December last! Managment had six months to sort this issue but they didnt bother their arses! To busy counting their bonuses to care! I mean how hard is it work out how many pilots you need to operate your full timetable! Its simple logistics! During the cabin crew dispute managment dismissed crew for eating lunch etc and cause more disruption to us passengers!
Im due in Berlin with Aer Lingus but thanks to their ****ty ignorent managers that might not happen. They dont seem to give a f**k about customers or staff alike :mad:

Particularly ill informed and immature post there poster.

How hard is it to work out how many pilots you need to work your full timetable?

Very hard indeed.

If it were simple logistics there would be no problem.

The real reason of course is the birth pains occurring as EI moves from a well padded semi-state legacy airline to a private company expected to deliver profits.

All parties involved are trying to hold on to as much as they can and the unit costs have to be pared down to achieve this.

Inept management over the years as well as belligerent unions have all contributed to this.

All the 'sections' out there have had their confrontation except the Pilots.

Now it's their turn to lock horns.

Does look like this one will go ahead.

Shelga

Why won't they just tell people if their flight has been cancelled or not?? On the website it has "Check the status of your flight here"- with dates only going up to 6th of June, and the strike not due to start til the 7th. What fcuking use is that to anyone?? :mad:

I just don't want to book the Ryanair flight and then have AL wriggle out of giving me my refund.

Snow Leopard

How hard is it to work out how many pilots you need to work your full timetable?

Very hard indeed.

If it were simple logistics there would be no problem.

Well the majority of other airlines seem to get it right, and the pilots obviously didn't find it very hard to work out either.

You seem to have forgotten the point that IALPA have been warning the company of an upcoming pilot shortage for almost a year now. Management have repeatedly ignored these warnings and now they have to deal with the consequences.

Pilot rosters have gone beyond a joke at this stage, there's only so much sh** they can put up with before action must be taken.

markpb

Snow Leopard wrote: »

Well the majority of other airlines seem to get it right, and the pilots obviously didn't find it very hard to work out either.

You seem to have forgotten the point that IALPA have been warning the company of an upcoming pilot shortage for almost a year now. Management have repeatedly ignored these warnings and now they have to deal with the consequences.

Pilot rosters have gone beyond a joke at this stage, there's only so much sh** they can put up with before action must be taken.

I don't understand how this strike happened or how its being blamed on staff shortages. There are legal constraints on how many hours per year so if the company is short on pilots, flights will be cancelled and there's nothing pilots can do to fix that. Why then, do the pilots care and why are they on strike?

Locker10a

markpb wrote: »

I don't understand how this strike happened or how its being blamed on staff shortages. There are legal constraints on how many hours per year so if the company is short on pilots, flights will be cancelled and there's nothing pilots can do to fix that. Why then, do the pilots care and why are they on strike?

because of the shortage of pilots there is no structure to the roster! Pilots are somtimes rostered on a day to day basis there is no leeway or structure! At Ryanair Pilots work 5 days and 2 days off the another 5 days followed by 3 days off! So the they have this structure to plan their lives around they know what days they work week/months in advance. Its all very well organised! At Aer Lingus it can be 6-7 days on the trot followed by one day off! Then a completly different pattern the week after! Its totally irratic!
Also Aer Lingus were hiring in Titan airways 757 charter flight to operate some flights last month because pilots went out of hours! Are Titan still doing some EI flights ?

Bessarion

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

Particularly ill informed and immature post there poster.

How hard is it to work out how many pilots you need to work your full timetable?

Very hard indeed.

If it were simple logistics there would be no problem.........

The real reason of course is the birth pains occurring as EI moves from a well padded semi-state legacy airline to a private company expected to deliver profits.

It is very easy to figure out how many pilots you need,: how many hours per year do your planes fly? then work out how many pilots you need to fly those hours, keeping in mind their legal limits (900 flight hours per year, 100 hours per 28 days etc) Factor in for sick leave/holidays/disruptions and voila!

Most other airline can do this correctly, even those with 10 times the aircraft as EI.

Your comment regarding 'well padded semi state' would make it seem that EI pilots do not want to work as hard as FR pilots.
-Why then are EI pilots currently reaching their legal limits on a monthly basis? -Why are EI already hiring in aircraft to cover crew shortages even before any industrial action takes place?
-Pilots can only work 900 hours per year, the EI pilots have NO PROBLEM with this, they just want efficient rostering. Isn't this what you would expect from a private company that aims to make a profit?
-Do you really think FR pilots get a 5-2-5-3 pattern for the good of their health or as an example of EFFICIENT rostering?


The Aer Lingus CEO stated that the "withdrawal of flexibility will impact the airlines ability to operate a full schedule from Tuesday", surely proper staffing levels, efficient planning and dynamic day to day oversight give this ability? Is the CEO openly admitting that EI rely on the goodwill of their staff to keep the airline running, that quite the confession for a guy who got a E500K productivity bonus for last year!

Sierra Oscar

Was just talking to American Airlines about an Aer Lingus connecting flight which threatens to throw my travel arrangements with AA into disarray. They told me Aer Lingus have yet to even send them an advisory that industrial action may occur from Tursday.

:mad:

philologos

Can you change to fly on Monday to be safe?