“I don’t think anybody is justified in seeking a 24pc or 25pc pay increase,” he said.
Mr O’Leary said he believed the 9.25pc interim increase recently recommended for the near 800 pilots at Aer Lingus by the Labour Court was “more than fair”.
“I would hope and expect that IAG [the owner of Aer Lingus] will stand up to what this is – industrial blackmail,” he said.
IAG also owns British Airways (BA), Iberia and Vueling.
Talks between Aer Lingus management and the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) ended on Thursday evening without any real progress.
Aer Lingus carries about 40,000 passengers a day during the busy summer season and about 95pc of those won’t get to fly on any day where pilots undertake strike action. The airline will probably aim to keep key services running on a skeleton basis – such as routes from Dublin to London Heathrow and New York’s JFK.
It will also have to look at practicalities such as where to park dozens of aircraft if there is a strike.
Aer Lingus pilots are undertaking a fresh ballot for industrial action this weekend after the airline questioned the union’s use of an electronic ballot earlier this week in which the vast majority of pilots at the airline vote in favour of strike action.
The new ballot is being taken using paper and the result is expected on Monday. The union would then have to give the company seven days’ notice after this before industrial action could take place. This is a legal requirement.
“The strikes will not result in chaos,” Mr O’Leary insisted. “The IAG group has many aircraft operated by BA, Iberia, Vueling, and they will operate plenty of flights to and from Ireland as will Ryanair, although we would hope it won’t come to that.
“I think the pilots should accept the Labour Court recommendation, which is a more than fair offer, particularly for a group of the higher-paid pilots who are already earning north of €200,000 a year.”
An independent pay tribunal last year recommended a 12.25pc increase in consolidated pay and a 1.5pc rise in unconsolidated pay for the Aer Lingus pilots, but that was rejected by the union.
The union also rejected the recommendation from the Labour Court. The pilots want a near-24pc increase. That would give some of its highest-paid captains a rise of almost €50,000 a year.
In a video message to members yesterday, Ialpa president Mark Tighe said he had received a solicitor’s letter from Aer Lingus. He noted that Ialpa has been in intensive talks with the company over the last week.
“We told you that Ialpa and Fórsa working together with our solicitors and senior counsel would ensure that every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed,” he said.
“And they were. However, as anticipated I have received a solicitor’s letter from the company raising a question about the ballot. We are certain that there is no question to be answered.”
He said Ialpa had expected this, and could spend weeks in court answering the company’s question, but this was not what it was going to do.
“This will only cost us four days,” he said, urging members to vote Yes. “You have continuously risen to the occasion,” he said. “I call upon you once again to reaffirm your rights. This is the start of our journey to secure the pay award that you deserve.”
Passengers are now bracing themselves for a possible strike. Aer Lingus has asked the union to give it 15 days’ notice of any action.
Strikes by airline staff aren’t considered extraordinary circumstances in the event flights are cancelled or delayed, meaning passengers could claim substantial compensation from the airline under EU rules if flights are affected.
However, passengers are entitled to that compensation only if they’ve been informed of the cancellation of their flight two weeks or less before the scheduled time of departure.
A 15-day notice of cancellation would mean they wouldn’t be entitled to compensation under the EU-261 rules.
Passengers are also not entitled to compensation if: