>>'Spend 20m onHeathrow slot for Shannon' . . . Willie O'Dea tells government .

>>Aer Lingus could lose crucial vote without support of government

THE Aer Lingus pilots' strike has taken a bizarre twist with the confirmation that Ryanair pilots, who are members of the IALPA union, will be providing emergency cover for Aer Lingus while their fellow union members man the picket lines on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It also emerged yesterday that Ryanair will propose at the Aer Lingus EGM in September or October that the airline should transfer some of its Dublin-Heathrow or Dublin-London Gatwick slots to Belfast.

The Sunday Tribune has established that a so-called 'wet lease' arrangement has been agreed between the two rival airlines, which means that Ryanair pilots, cabin crew and planes will be operating some of the emergency Aer Lingus service during this week's strike.

An IALPA official this weekend said the union "had no problem with this" and confirmed no requests had been made to IALPA members outside Aer Lingus not to fly the replacement planes . . . likely to cost up to 10,000 an hour to lease.

Well-placed sources are now convinced that the strike will go ahead this week and is likely to escalate the following week, with cabin crew also set to oppose the hiring of new Aer Lingus staff at 'local rates' in Belfast. "No followup action has been decided yet, but we're not going away, " an IALPA official said.

The chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission, Kieran Mulvey, said yesterday, "Informal contacts with both sides suggest there is no basis for a resolution before Tuesday."

Meanwhile, it has emerged that, without the support of the government, Aer Lingus management could lose the crucial vote in the EGM in September or October, forcing the airline to hand the routes back to Shannon.

Despite an earlier belief that a 75% vote would be required to overturn the decision on Shannon, a straight majority of those voting at the EGM will be sufficient.

The Sunday Tribune has learned Ryanair will definitely abstain from the vote. But if the government, as had been expected, also abstains, the employee share ownership trust (ESOT) and unions . . .

which own 22% of the airline's shares . . . could have enough votes to overturn the Shannon decision. It is understood the ESOT will ballot its members on how it should vote.

Defence minister Willie O'Dea has suggested that the government explore the option of buying slots at Heathrow on the open market as a means of maintaining a service between Shannon and the London hub.

"It's one of the options I'd be suggesting to the government, " he said, adding that such a slot could be transferred to the control of the Shannon Airport Authority and used by an airline to service the route. However, aviation sources said this would be regarded as "unlawful state aid" and questioned whether a non-airline could purchase a slot.

Question marks have also been raised about the merits of an Ibec/Shannon Development survey on how the loss of the Heathrow route would impact on the midwest. Almost half the companies surveyed said the decision would negatively impact on their ability to transfer freight abroad.

However, Aer Lingus stopped all its shorthaul freight services a number of years ago.

An IBEC spokesman denied this undermined the survey and said the figure could be explained by the practice of companies transporting "component parts" on board passenger flights.

Aer Lingus's problems deepened with the news that industrial relations troubleshooter Phil Flynn has clarified an earlier recommendation . . . to the effect Aer Lingus could adopt local terms and conditions in new bases outside Ireland . . . by stating this should not be taken to apply to Belfast.