Staff at Knock International Airport in Co Mayo have called on the airport's board members to account for themselves and described the company as "authoritarian".
The 30 staff have raised questions about ownership of the airport, health and safety and pay-related issues, and asked the board whether it believes the trust structure is helping or hindering the company's future.
In a five-page submission sent last month to board members, the staff say they had already asked the airport's chairman, Mr Cathal Duffy, to provide a forum for discussion with employees, who are not represented at board level.
"Since no such forum has been put in place, we have taken the unusual step of writing to you directly," the letter states.
Emphasising that their aim is not to criticise, the staff pose 21 questions to board members that are implicitly critical of current management. They ask if the board sees any merit in appointing people who have expertise in areas of banking and finance, industrial and regional development, tourism and the aviation industry.
Significantly, they also ask if the company intends to upgrade the fire and rescue, passenger handling and security equipment at the airport.
The submission says the average salary at the airport is 20 to 30 per cent below the industrial wage, and it claims that 50 per cent of fire and rescue service personnel have left the company in the past year. A number of staff have also left other departments.
The submission asks how staff can assist the company in implementing its health and safety policy issued last October.
It asks further when the new runway lighting system will be in operation. Written before the recent row erupted with Ryanair, it also questions the role of that airline and whether the landing fees and passenger handling charges benefited the airline more than the airport.
Ryanair threatened to withdraw its London route from Knock last month in a row about a new passenger charge to be introduced by airport management. A new contract was subsequently signed with the airline, but the board has been in discussions with other carriers. Earlier this month the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, visited Knock and announced that new daily early morning flights to Dublin would be introduced by the end of the year. The Minister took the opportunity to compliment the airport board on its stance in the dispute with Ryanair.
The staff submission asks if Aer Lingus will resume its Birmingham service to and from Knock, and asks about the current status of the special tax designation for the airport. It also requests details on developing the airport as a freight forwarding facility, as mooted several times during the lifetime of the previous government.
Members of the board of Knock Airport were not prepared to comment on the submission last week. The board is chaired by Mr Duffy and membership include Mgr Dominic Greally of Knock parish, Mr Des Mahon, Mayo county manager, and Mr John Mahon, businessman. It is understood that a reply is being prepared and the board is expected to meet a delegation representing staff shortly.