Talks aimed at averting next Tuesday's threatened industrial action by Aer Lingus pilots have adjourned but will resume tomorrow at 2.30pm.
Aer Lingus Director of Human Resources Michael Grealy said they had a day of constructive negotiations and that there had been some progress.
Mr Grealy said that the parties had agreed to reflect overnight and reconvene to see if they can alleviate the threat to passengers.
Earlier, Mr Grealy said he was confident they could reach a conclusion with reasonable speed.
IMPACT's National Secretary Michael Landers, speaking after the talks, said some progress had been made.
Pilots' union IMPACT has said that it is being forced to work unreasonable rosters because of staff shortages and that the airline is already cancelling flights and hiring in planes and crews to operate its schedule.
However, Aer Lingus insists it has enough pilots to run the airline and says the problem centres on rosters and productivity.
If Tuesday's threatened industrial action proceeds, up to 30,000 passengers a day face significant disruption to flights.
From Tuesday, pilots will not work any rostered days off or annual leave days and will present for work one hour late.
Chief Executive Christoph Mueller has said the move could paralyse the Aer Lingus schedule.
There is a worldwide shortage of pilots, with many attracted to growth areas such as the Middle East, and Aer Lingus is short-staffed as a result.
Pilots say they have to work unreasonable rosters, where they may only get one day off after five days on.
The Irish Airline Pilots' Association says it has warned Aer Lingus repeatedly about the problem, but it says the company has failed to address it.
Aer Lingus admits that there has been some attrition of pilots, and that they have had to hire in planes and crews to operate the existing roster.
The pilots' delegation includes a representative of pilots based in Gatwick who voted by almost 88% to support the industrial action.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said he hopes a resolution could be found and disruption to passengers avoided.
The General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said that he is hopeful that industrial action at Aer Lingus can be avoided.
David Begg said that in recent years there have been a lot of difficulties at Aer Lingus with industrial action having been on the cards, but that in the majority of cases such action was avoided.
