The union representing Aer Lingus pilots is considering a deal designed to resolve the dispute which has grounded the Irish national airline's entire fleet.

Aer Lingus managers have accepted the proposals, but said flights would not resume until Wednesday at the earliest.

The company said it would continue to review the position.

Detailed recommendations to resolve the disagreement were drawn up by Ireland's Labour Relations Commission and handed to the two sides.

They agreed to the move after talks at Dublin's Labour Court broke up in the early hours of Sunday following 11 hours of negotiations.

Survival plan

The company and unions are deadlocked over new working practices which the airline says are vital if it is to survive.

The only thing stopping planes from taking off is management's bizarre attitude

Peter McLoone Secretary general, pilots' union

The company said it was unable to resume flights over the bank holiday weekend as a result of a one-day pilots' strike on Thursday.

But the pilots' union has argued that there was no need to ground planes while the talks continued.

The disruption is thought to be costing the airline about 2m euros ($1.9m; �1.3m) a day.

Staff are protesting at the survival plan announced by Aer Lingus in October as financial losses mounted.

Suspended

Controversial work rosters cutting rest times between shifts were introduced and more than 2,000 people took redundancy.

The Irish pilots' union, Impact, called for Thursday's walkout after seven pilots were suspended for refusing to stick to the new work schedules.

Aer Lingus has retorted that the union is failing to "face up to change".

Impact reported that its pilots had been taken off the payroll and it accused Aer Lingus of a "lockout".

Bizarre attitude

Peter McLoone, secretary general of Impact, said the threat of industrial action had been lifted while negotiations were taking place.

"I cannot understand why passengers should continue to be inconvenienced," he said.

"The only thing stopping planes from taking off is management's bizarre attitude," he added.

Both sides have come under pressure to settle as the dispute sparked fears that the loss-making airline could collapse, hurting Ireland's tourism industry.

Even before the latest crisis, Aer Lingus was racking up heavy daily losses as it struggled with a slump in passenger numbers in the wake of the 11 September attacks and the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis.

The dispute has been described as "hugely damaging" by Niall Reddy, acting chief executive of the tourist board, Bord Failte.

John Dunne, chief executive of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, said it could affect "people's perception of Ireland overseas" in the long term.