Labour Court recommends €160 daily allowance for excess pilot instructor duties

The Labour Court recommended a review of Aer Lingus pilot instructors’ performance pay and an interim daily allowance of €160 for ground instruction duties beyond 20 a year. The recommendation was dated 11 March 2005. The Irish Airline Pilots' Association/Impact sought to have non-flying instructor duties count towards performance pay, arguing that instructors often fell short of flight-hour thresholds because of their training work. Aer Lingus said existing allowances and pay compensated for any loss and argued the claim was barred under Sustaining Progress. The Court found an anomaly because instruction time was excluded from the block-hour calculation. It recommended a review of the scheme, with any revisions not agreed by the parties referred to the Pilots Pay Tribunal. Pending that review, the existing basic instructor allowance should cover up to 20 ground instruction duties a year; additional duties should attract the €160 daily allowance. The changes were to apply from the performance pay year that began in November 2004. Line Standards Captains were excluded from the claim and recommendation.