Mohan Sinha
25 Apr 2026

DUBLIN, Ireland: A dispute involving an Aer Lingus pilot, suspended from the airline's recently shut Manchester base, will be taken to mediation, the High Court has been told.

Captain Ian Blair was given a court date on April 24 to request permission to attend a retraining course in Dublin on April 27. The course is meant for pilots who have moved from the closed Manchester base.

Blair is currently facing disciplinary action by his employer, Aer Lingus UK Ltd, and has been suspended while the process is ongoing. However, he says the process actually ended last January.

Aer Lingus says his suspension remains active under UK rules and claims he was mistakenly scheduled for the retraining course, a claim Blair disputes.

He was suspended with pay last November while the company investigated a complaint. It was alleged that he told cabin crew on a flight from Barbados to Manchester to sit in economy class instead of business class, even though there were no passengers on board.

At that time, cabin crew in Manchester were protesting for higher pay, but the crew on that flight were not part of the protest.

The airline also claims Blair ignored a senior officer's order to allow the crew to sit in business class, resulting in disciplinary action.

Earlier this month, Blair took legal action against Aer Lingus Ltd and Aer Lingus UK Ltd. He argued that the airline was wrong to insist that he stay in the UK during the disciplinary process, even though he believed he had been approved to move to Dublin.

He then made another request to attend the training course, and the judge scheduled a quick hearing.

On April 23, his lawyer told the court that the hearing might not be needed because both sides had agreed to mediate.

The judge postponed the case for a week. The court was also told that the airline will not move forward with the disciplinary process until then.