Aer Lingus said it has concerns over the speed at which a new strike ballot of pilots is being conducted.
Earlier, the Irish Airline Pilots' Association (IALPA) announced that it would conduct a paper ballot of its members for industrial action at Aer Lingus from 11am today until 11am on Monday.
The union's members voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking action via an electronic ballot earlier this week but in an update to pilots President of IALPA Captain Mark Tighe said that the union had received a solicitor's letter from Aer Lingus raising a question about the ballot.
"We are certain that there is no question to be answered, what is not in question is that almost 98% of you voted and nearly unanimously voted yes," Captain Tighe said in his update.
He said that IALPA had expected such a move by Aer Lingus and rather than spending weeks answering the question in court, it will instead conduct a paper ballot.
Voting at polling stations in Dublin and Cork opened this morning and will close on Monday with results due to be announced later that day.
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Aer Lingus Chief Corporate Affairs OfficerDonal Moriarty said they are looking into the operation of this new ballot.
"We are equally concerned actually about the short periods of time over which that ballot will be conducted, a mere three days, which is very unusual. So we're also looking into this," Mr Moriarty said.
He added that the airline may communicate its concerns to IALPA before the ballot closes on Monday.
Aer Lingus said it had queried the validity of the original IALPA electronic ballot, having regard to the statutory requirements for secrecy and the provisions of the IALPA constitution.
Aer Lingus has asked IALPA for at least fifteen days' notice if pilots are planning to strike. The union is required to give a minimum of seven days' notice.
IALPA has claimed that fifteen days would allow Aer Lingus to avoid paying compensation to passengers but the airline insisted that it is seeking the additional time in order to minimise the impact on customers, adding that it has no difficulty refunding, reaccommodating and compensating passengers where that is required.
Talks end without agreement
Talks between management and pilots at Aer Lingus ended without agreement yesterday evening.
The two sides met for several hours in a bid to resolve a pay dispute that could lead to strike action at the airline.
In a statement, Aer Lingus said "no meaningful progress was made" at the talks.
A spokesperson said: "Aer Lingus offered to continue to engage in direct discussions on meaningful productivity and flexibility proposals to enable increased pay."
"Aer Lingus also offered to request the support of the Workplace Relations Commission in order to further explore solutions. Both of these offers were rejected by IALPA, the airline said.
Last week, IALPA members voted overwhelmingly to reject a Labour Court recommendation that pilots should receive pay increases totalling 9.25% as part of an interim settlement.
The figure was well below the 23.8% that the pilots had been seeking. Aer Lingus has described the level of increases being demanded as exorbitant and untenable.
IALPA said previous pay offers do not reflect the impact of inflation, the large profits made by Aer Lingus, or the sacrifices made by pilots during the pandemic to save the company.
Aer Lingus accused IALPA of failing to engage in various independent processes responsibly and claimed that the union's stance risks investment, growth and jobs in the airline.
The company has lost the opportunity to secure two new Airbus aircraft from its parent IAG due to the uncertainty caused by the ongoing pay dispute.
