The trade union Siptu is to try to put together a broad-based coalition aimed at forcing Aer Lingus to reverse its plans to drop the Shannon-Heathrow route next January.
It hopes the coalition will comprise workers, business representatives and tourism interests as well as the Government and other Aer Lingus shareholders.
Local union representatives said that while there were no plans to ballot on industrial action over the closure of the Shannon-Heathrow route, they could not rule in or out such a move taking place at some stage.
Aer Lingus told staff yesterday that 45 jobs could be lost at Shannon as a result of the closure of the route which will come into effect next January. Aer Lingus plans to use the landing slots at Heathrow, which currently serve the Shannon route, to facilitate a new service from Belfast.
The airline said that as part of a €150 million investment it would base three aircraft at Belfast International Airport which would primarily serve London Heathrow and Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. There will also be a limited number of flights to Barcelona, Geneva, Rome, Budapest, Malaga and Faro.
Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion said the airline, as a publicly quoted company, had to make the announcement in the manner in which it did and could not give advance notification. He described the decision as a "difficult" one but said that it was a judgment call which, he believed, on balance would prove to be the right one.
The Aer Lingus announcement was strongly criticised by trade unions, business and development groups and politicians.
The Department of Transport said that while the move was regrettable, it was based on commercial considerations.
Siptu's Shannon official Tony Carroll said workers were "disgusted" at the announcement. He said staff had been through various survival and business plans but management kept coming back for more.
Ryanair, which owns 25 per cent of the former State airline, last night offered to work with the Government to ensure that Aer Lingus maintained its Shannon-Heathrow service. It said the Aer Lingus board would find it difficult to refuse a joint request from Ryanair and the Government, which also owns just over 25 per cent, to maintain the "critical" connectivity between Shannon and Heathrow.
The general manager of one of the mid-west region's largest firms said last night that it was difficult to envisage the company continuing to carry on all its functions if the Shannon-Heathrow route was closed.
Ken Sullivan, of diamond manufacturer Element Six - formerly De Beers - which employs 600 people in the Shannon Free Zone, said that 90 per cent of the company's travel was routed through the Shannon-Heathrow service.
Employers' group Ibec said the closure of the route would have a devastating effect on the mid-west region and it called for a full business impact assessment of the move.
Shannon Development chairman John Brassil called for an immediate review of the decision which, he said, would be a major blow to tourism and business in the region.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions called on Aer Lingus management to enter into immediate talks with unions with a view to maintaining employment levels at Shannon and ensuring that the new jobs in Belfast had comparable terms and conditions to those of existing staff at the airline.
The trade union Impact said it was completely opposed to the cutbacks in the Aer Lingus operation at Shannon airport.
The Labour Party said the decision was disastrous for regional policy. Fine Gael said the Government was "washing its hands of Shannon airport". Fianna Fáil MEP Seán Ó Neachtáin also criticised the decision.
