Aer Lingus is proposing to remove the company’s US base at Shannon airport with the loss of 102 cabin crew jobs in the airline’s 'survival plan'.
In a presentation to over 120 Aer Lingus workers at the Oakwood Arms Hotel in Shannon tonight, chief executive Christoph Mueller said that the airline is proposing to end the direct Shannon New York route early in the New Year.
Instead the airline is planning to operate a three day a week Shannon New York service via Dublin on flights that will be staffed by Dublin-based cabin crew.
The move by Aer Lingus will result in seventy five per cent of Aer Lingus’s 136-strong cabin crew staff at Shannon losing their jobs.
The remaining 34 cabin crew staff will operate the three times a day Shannon Heathrow service – the airline’s only UK or European route out of Shannon.
Aer Lingus workers were also told that 75 ground operation workers will be facing reduced hours at the Shannon base.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Aer Lingus’s director of corporate affairs Enda Corneille said: “The job we all we have to do is to ensure that there is a viable future for the company. It is not just about Shannon. It is about Aer Lingus in total.”
An Aer Lingus worker, who declined to be named, who attended the meeting said: “There were people in tears at the meeting. They were so shocked by what they were being told, they couldn’t speak.”
He said that Mr Mueller has undertaken to meet with the Shannon Aer Lingus workers again in the near future when they are expected to provide alternatives to him on the jobs cut plan.
The worker said: “The Shannon New York service is a very good product that has never been properly marketed by the company.”
Mr Corneille said: “The news today and yesterday has been overwhelming for staff. This has been a very grave time for Aer Lingus and Aer Lingus people.”
Mr Corneille pointed out that 70 per cent of Aer Lingus’s €93 million loss for the first six months came from the airline’s long haul operation.
The airline’s cost cutting plan is seeking to cut 676 jobs and save €97 million. Mr Corneille said: “If we can’t take the cost out, there is a very real chance we simply won’t be able to afford long haul regardless or whether it is Shannon or Dublin.”
Mr Corneille said: “The real issue for the company is long haul. Long haul is under serious threat.”
Mr Corneille said an urgent decision needs to be made on the plan by the end of November after a consultation period with workers.
After the meeting, Siptu branch spokesman Tony Carroll said there was “a sense of anger” at the meeting yesterday amongst workers.
“It is only 12 months after the last time they told us ‘if we can get the cost base right in Shannon, we will be over the hump’ and here we are months later and we are still talking about a similar situation again.”
Mr Carroll added: “It is all to play for still and we want to look at alternatives and see what cost savings can be made without job losses.”
Spokesman for the Impact trade union Gerry Clarke said: “There is disappointment because the region seems to be targeted again.”
