It is possible there nay be disruption to Aer Lingus services because of a dispute over whether an employee of another airline sits in a crew seat or a passenger seat. The travelling public will say a plague on both their houses if management and unions let an essentially frivolous issue ground the planes. The days when a petty squabble is allowed to inconvenience tens of thousands of customers belong to a previous, era of industrial relations which we are well rid of.
The alliance which Aer Lingus forged with Delta Airlines last April was an important step forward for the Irish company. Delta has been a good friend to Ireland since it began serving Shannon and Dublin, from its home base of Atlanta. The early years were not profitable but Delta maintained its commitment to serve the Irish market. The "Worldwide Partnership" with Aer Lingus is a commercial deal with a proven ally.
Under the terms of the agreement, Delta guarantees to buy 40 seats on Aer Lingus's flights to and from New York. Because these passengers will bed Delta customers, the American carrier wants to have"
one Delta cabin member on board hardly an unreasonable requirement. The Aer Lingus cabin crews have objected on the grounds that such an arrangement represents a threat to their jobs. Even if it does, a far greater threat to jobs would arise if the partnership, with Delta were to unravel.
It is accepted no all sides including the trade unions, that Aer Lingus needs a strategic partner. It is simply too small to go it alone. Airlines much larger than Aer Lingus have accepted the need to link up with other carriers. Delta, for example, has two other worldwide partners who are among the strongest in the aviation business - Swissair and Singapore Airlines. The relationship has been deepened by Delta taking a small shareholding in its two partners and vice versa.
The issue of whether a Delta cabin crew member should sit in a crew or passenger seat pales into insignificance compared to the powerful benefits the partnership brings to Aer Lingus. The Irish carrier scarcely needs Delta to fill 40 seats in the summer but it is quite a different matter in November or January. The so called code sharing agreement between the airlines allows Delta to feed passengers into Aer Lingus routes out of New York and Boston to Ireland which are not served by Delta. As we report today, Aer Lingus may have to vacate its present terminal at Kennedy International Airport and would wish to consider the option of sharing Delta's dedicated terminal there.
The partnership with Delta will serve to make Aer Lingus stronger, and so preserve and even increase jobs. This is the broader picture that the trade unions should be concentrating on. Though Aer Lingus is back in profit, it could not yet be described by any stretch of the imagination as financially robust. A strike now would be gravely damaging, especially when the issue in question is hardly worth inflicting misery on travellers and damage to the tourist industry.