Aer Lingus Fleet/ Routes Discussion Pt 2 (ALL possible routes included)

kevinandrew · 10-11-2025 08:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123978103#Comment_123978103

Strange one and impossible to judge without the full details. At face value it seems inappropriate for the COO to make such a call over a captain, the person in command of the aircraft. However I'm not sure what operational issue, other than weight and ballance, would come into play otherwise? I wouldn't have thought it would be a problem during cruise.

It's very possible the COO overstepped the mark and that the captain wasn't justified in their original decision. The union involvement could lead to things escalating very quickly.

HTCOne · 10-11-2025 08:25PM

Sending a message like that to a Pilot mid flight is totally inappropriate. Its distracting and dangerous and I hope the Pilot filed a safety report with the IAA if true.

Jamie2k9 · 10-11-2025 08:44PM

Crew not part of Unite or the indusctal action…

kevinandrew · 10-11-2025 09:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123978455#Comment_123978455

Pilot is an IALPA member though, hence their involvement and why the article states they had to deny any suggestion their members may have brought industrial relations issues on board.

exiledawaynothere · 10-11-2025 09:12PM

Is there a chief pilot?

Jamie2k9 · 10-11-2025 09:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123978510#Comment_123978510

Rule one would be deny in this or any circumstance.

I do hope what happend was for a valid reaon and whoever may have overstepped the mark admit and move on.

Noxegon · 10-11-2025 10:04PM

Genuine question here — could there be a legitimate weight and balance issue in an empty plane if the crew sat up front?

On the face of it it seems awfully petty to tell the crew to sit in economy.

MrMusician18 · 10-11-2025 10:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123978643#Comment_123978643

You'd imagine a wide body jet would be able to easily cope with a crew sitting out of the ideal position. They'd weigh a total of what 500-800kg on an aircraft that's 130 tonnes empty? That said a positioning flight is lightly loaded so maybe the plane is more sensitive to the location of people. Everything like that is at the captain's discretion anyway regardless.

When passengers are told the two/three front rows are closed on an otherwise busy flight, the old weight and balance excuse gets rolled out and clearly nonsense. There it's quite obviously done for operational reasons to aid turnaround since it would have a negligible impact on the balance of the aircraft, even a relatively small one like a 737. It's just easier to say weight and balance to passengers rather than its policy to close rows to reduce the amount of cleaning and checks for turnaround. You can't question safety.

On a quiet flight it's obviously different.

StakeholderValue · 10-11-2025 11:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123978416#Comment_123978416

Correct - this is the core issue here.

Locker10a · 11-11-2025 12:58AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123978379#Comment_123978379

Not sure it’s a fair comparison.

Part of the pilots job is to communicate with the company.
A communication was obviously sent.
The crew I believe have an agreement whereby if they have to position, and a business seat is free, they are entitled to use it.

Reading between the lines here, I think this captain wasn’t happy the company sent a Dublin based (non Unite) non striking crew to operate this flight.
It seems a challenge to an agreement (about positioning in business class where available) was made and a member of management clarified the procedure and agreement.
This wasn’t to the liking of the pilot and pilots union.

Noxegon · 11-11-2025 08:14AM

If the Irish Times article is correct, then the crew was Manchester-based but non-union.

I agree that it's utterly inappropriate for management to send a message like that to a pilot mid-flight. I think the pilot's decision to file a safety report is absolutely justified.

That being said, IMHO telling cabin crew to sit in economy in an empty plane because they're not part of your union is at best unprofessional – especially since these are people who you will likely be working with again at some point. Nobody needs a pissing match between staff on board an aircraft.

I think the correct solution for all parties would have been to have a tea and biscuits session after landing to decide if further action is warranted.

StakeholderValue · 11-11-2025 08:56AM

Aer Lingus claim they put safety first and its pilots have just passed a unanimous motion of no confidence in its CEO and COO on safety grounds. Hard to see how CEO and COO remain in their positions with any credibility after this.

airboos · 11-11-2025 09:03AM

If the company wanted the cabin crew in business class then why not ticket them as such and account for their position on the aircraft for weight and balance from the get go. My understanding was that the cabin crew were in uniform, passed through the airport in question using staff channels, they sat at their normal operating positions for take off and landing and that the loadsheet was prepared and the flight operated on this basis.

lintdrummer · 11-11-2025 10:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123978906#Comment_123978906

The crew I believe have an agreement whereby if they have to position, and a business seat is free, they are entitled to use it.

Open to correction but I think that's the case for Flight Deck crew but not Cabin Crew.

I have heard other details about this story and my conclusion is that the managers were way out of line and the captain was correct to ignore this nonsense in flight. How they ended up suspending him is hard to fathom.

Aer Lingus Fleet/ Routes Discussion Pt 2 (ALL possible routes included)

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