Following a preliminary hearing in the Labour Court last week, the pilots' union Impact and senior management at the cut-price airline have both told Industrial Relations News that they would be "amenable" to a public hearing of their four-year-old dispute.

Labour Court hearings are usually held behind closed doors because of the frequently sensitive commercial information disclosed to back up respective arguments. But if both sides agree, and if the court has no objection, members of the public can be admitted to the hearing.

Eddie Wilson, director of personnel at Ryanair, told the Sunday Tribune that Ryanair simply said it had "no objection" to a public hearing but didn't see it as particularly relevant.

The Labour Court has set aside an unprecedented five days to hear the dispute. On the surface, the row concerns the pilots' objections to having to repay the 15,000 it costs the company to train each pilot on new aircraft if they subsequently leave Ryanair for a rival airline.

But in reality the dispute centres on Michael O'Leary's strenuous efforts to keep the unions out of the low-fares airline.

The 21 June Labour Court hearing will be the 'fifth round' of this slugging match which unions see as critical to their chances of gaining recognition not only in Ryanair, but in other antiunion companies.

The pilots' union won its case under new union recognition legislation at the Labour Relations Commission, the Labour Court and following an appeal by Ryanair to the High Court.

But earlier this year, in a major reversal for the unions, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court decision and ruled that the Labour Court had failed to adhere to proper procedures and will have to rehear the case.

Labour Court chairman Kevin Duffy presided over the initial hearing but the rehearing will be conducted by the court's deputy chair, Caroline Jenkinson.

On the issues under dispute, Eddie Wilson said some of Ryanair's Dublin pilots had signed the company bond requiring them to stay with the airline after being trained to fly Ryanair's new Boeing 737-800 series planes. But he admitted that other pilots had paid the 15,000 training costs themselves, leaving them free to quit the low-cost airline for a rival operator.