Esot reaction:The Aer Lingus employee share ownership trust (Esot), which owns 12.5 per cent of the airline, is "most probably" to convene a special meeting next week to consider the company's plan to end its Shannon-Heathrow service.
The meeting was sought on Wednesday by Noel Dowling, of the trade union Siptu, who is a director of the trust.
It is understood that in his letter to the chairman of the trust Mr Dowling suggested that the Esot should urgently examine what steps are open to it to influence a reversal of the decision to pull out of Shannon.
Sources said the letter maintained that the board should consider the prospect of co-operating with other shareholders to this end. The possibility of the trust, which includes senior trade union figures, co-operating with Ryanair (which owns 25 per cent of Aer Lingus) would be controversial, given the history between trade unions and Michael O'Leary.
However, Ryanair sources pointed out that the airline's efforts have been aimed at joining forces with the Government (which also owns just over 25 per cent of Aer Lingus) to force a U-turn on the Shannon plan.
Ryanair sources indicated that without the Government it would be unlikely that there would be sufficient shareholder support for such a move even if it was backed by the Esot.
It is understood that Mr Dowling wrote that the decision of Aer Lingus to abandon the highly profitable and strategic route without reference to its shareholders was alarming and could have serious negative consequences for all shareholders.
Sources said that the letter maintained that prior to its flotation Aer Lingus had given undertakings that future developments would not be at the expense of existing locations.
Siptu is to attend today's meeting organised by Shannon Development aimed at building a broad coalition to deal with the threat posed by Aer Lingus's withdrawal from the Heathrow route.
"There seems to be an attitude abroad that we are only concerned about workers in Aer Lingus or Shannon airport. The future of these workers is of course a major concern for us but our approach to the problem also reflects the interests of the wider community," the union said.
