This Europe: Pilots bring Celtic tiger down to earth

By Katherine Butler

How many pilots does it take to bring Europe's most dynamic economy to a juddering halt? Apparently 537. That is the number of pilots that the Irish carrier Aer Lingus employs to fly its 33 aircraft.

Today the struggling state-backed airline is resuming services after Impact, the unfortunately named pilots' union, voted to end an industrial dispute. The row erupted when the airline's no-frills boss, Willie Walsh, (nickname Boxcar Willie) told the pilots they would have to fly more and cut the minimum 13-hour rest between flights.

A one-day stoppage led to havoc: the fleet was grounded for five days over the busiest holiday weekend of the summer. Weddings, funerals and World Cup departures were missed, business deals put on ice and holidays ruined in departure halls. Public anger grew when Aer Lingus offered only minimal refunds. The lucky had to buy tickets at inflated prices from rival airlines; the unlucky are still waiting. One couple's odyssey from Boston took them to New York, London, Glasgow and Belfast and the last leg to Dublin on a rickety bus.

Aer Lingus carries 40 per cent of passengers arriving in Ireland but is under relentless pressure from low-cost rivals. It came close to collapse after 11 September and has now lost €6m (£3.86m) in five days. There is little public sympathy for the pilots, whom most people think are mollycoddled. Confidence in a once-proud symbol of a small, independent nation has all but vanished. Little wonder Bertie Ahern, the Taoiseach, had to tell Mr Walsh and the pilots to "cop themselves on".