AER LINGUS plans to remove the company’s transatlantic base at Shannon airport with the loss of 102 cabin crew jobs as part of its transformation plan.
In a presentation to more than 120 Aer Lingus workers at the Oakwood Arms Hotel in Shannon last night, chief executive Christoph Mueller said the airline would operate its services from Shannon to New York and Boston as stopovers from Dublin.
It wants to introduce these changes in January.
All of its transatlantic flights would be staffed by Dublin-based cabin crew. Aer Lingus plans to offer three flights a week to New York from Shannon and four weekly to Boston.
The move by Aer Lingus will result in 75 per cent of Aer Lingus’s 136-strong cabin crew staff at Shannon losing their jobs. The remaining 34 will operate the three times a day Shannon/Heathrow service – the airline’s only UK or European route out of the Co Clare airport.
Aer Lingus workers were also told that 75 ground operation posts would face reduced hours at the Shannon base.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Aer Lingus’s director for 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 was at the meeting but declined to be named 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 Mr Mueller has undertaken to meet 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 of this year came from the airline’s long-haul operation. There were no profitable routes on the transatlantic service.
The airline’s cost-reduction 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. The real issue for the company is long haul. Long haul is under serious threat.”
Mr Corneille said an urgent decision needed to be made on the restructuring plan by the end of next month after consultation with workers.
After the meeting, Siptu branch spokesman Tony Carroll said there was “anger” among 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. 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.”
