The Irish Airline Pilots' Association (IALPA) has served notice to Aer Lingus of an indefinite work-to-rule from next Wednesday 26 June.
In a statement, IALPA said this will involve the pilots not working overtime or "any other out of hours duties requested by management".
It will also involve the pilots only working the published rosters and "not accepting or working any amendments to published rosters".
"This includes no Friday changes and no changes on or prior to the day of operation."
The pilots will also not log into the Aer Lingus portal or 'e-crew' outside of work hours nor will they answer phone calls outside of work hours.
Aer Lingus pilots, who are members of the Irish Airline Pilots' Association (IALPA), yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action.
Members voted 99% in favour (on a turnout of 89%) in a paper, in-person ballot that was conducted over the weekend.
IALPA president Captain Mark Tighe said: "We are now at a point where this dispute has escalated to indefinite industrial action by pilots.
"We are in this position because management have failed to provide us with a meaningful offer on pay that accounts for inflation and the sacrifices made by pilots to save Aer Lingus during the pandemic."
Captain Tighe added: "Management keep insisting that pilots must sell their working conditions in exchange for any increase in pay. We are absolutely not prepared to do that, especially when Aer Lingus is making enormous profits.
"Our pay claim is for 24%, which equates to inflation since our last pay rise in 2019. Aer Lingus have increased their profits by 400% to €255m last year.
"Our pay claim is entirely affordable, and Aer Lingus management need to quickly change position if they want to avoid this dispute escalating," he said.
Responding, Aer Lingus said the work-to-rule will "inevitably result in significant disruption to our customers and to other employees".
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In a statement, the airline said: "Aer Lingus will assess the impact of the full detail of the industrial action served by IALPA, including the strict 'work to rule' that they have outlined.
"It will inevitably result in significant disruption to our customers and to other employees.
"Aer Lingus will do everything possible to minimise the disruption to customers, but unfortunately a significant level of disruption is inevitable."
Aer Lingus said it had offered to "continue to engage in meaningful direct discussions on 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," added the statement.
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer with Aer Lingus, Donal Moriarty, said: "IALPA have been absolutely determined to issue notice of industrial action, and in doing so, they are choosing, and deliberately choosing, to inflict significant damage on Aer Lingus customers and on other employees."
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime programme, he said the work-to-rule action could lead to flight cancellations, but they will have to assess its impact and examine the details of the work-to-rule and what form that will take.
"But there is no doubt the impact will be significant, in terms of our 40,000 customers a day that travel with Aer Lingus," he said.
He added that Aer Lingus will now focus on minimising the impact of the industrial action on customers.
The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) has said the work to rule notice served by Aer Lingus pilots is better than an all-out strike but it urged both sides to come back to talks.
Vice-President of the ITAA, Paul Hackett, said it is likely there will be some disruption for passengers but that there are protections in place for them.
Speaking on RTÉ PrimeTime, Mr Hackett said his advice for customers of Aer Lingus is to "sit tight" and advised them not to make any changes yet to bookings.
He said under the EU directive 261 those people who have outbound flights cancelled have a right to a refund or a rerouting.
"It is the same on inbound flights; and you can also get subsistence to help pay for any extras you need," Mr Hackett said. But he said it was important to keep receipts.
Mr Hackett said he hopes both IALPA and Aer Lingus will work to resolve issues because he said "it's just not fair on the consumers".
Minister calles on management and union to have 'meaningful' talks
Earlier today, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath called on Aer Lingus management and unions to get involved in "meaningful discussions" to avoid industrial action.
Mr McGrath said the earlier an agreement could be reached the better, given summer can be the one time of the year some people can get away for a holiday.
"I would call on both Aer Lingus management and the unions to get down around the table as quickly as possible and to have meaningful discussions to avoid industrial action.
"We're coming into a very important season now, where for many individuals and families, this is the one opportunity in the year that they may have to get away.
"So the earlier the discussions take place, and a settlement can be agreed between the airline and the pilots representatives the better".
Aer Lingus Regional flights from Dublin will not be impacted by any potential industrial action, as these services are operated by an external provider.
