Forced job cuts at Aer Lingus not ruled out

Compulsory redundancies at Aer Lingus have not been ruled out, the airline’s chief executive said this afternoon.

Mr Willie Walsh told the Dáil Public Enterprise Committee that the company had received 1,600 applications within the State for the scheme and added that applications from overseas offices were still being assessed. A limit of £40 million has been placed on the total redundancy package.

He said that nearly £25 million would be raised following the sale of two Boeing aircraft and a further £5 million in State aid in compensation for the September 11th attacks in the US. Aer Lingus is also seeking buyers for its wholly owned charter firm, Futura.

As unions representing Aer Lingus workers met Government officials today to discuss the Employee Share Option Plan, Mr Walsh said he favoured a greater shareholding by employees than the 4.7 per cent per cent they currently own.

"Finalisation of this matter is, of course, a matter for Government, and we hope it can be concluded so as to facilitate an early ballot on the LRC proposals," he added.

Aer Lingus has also remodleled its website into a more focused sales machine and is using spare office capacity to start a new route between Malaga and Dublin.