Madam, – I am one of the hundreds of unemployed Irish professionals within the aviation sector, frustrated at the “smoke screen” created by ignorant criticism which detracts from the key issue in the current controversy: the creation of jobs within the aviation sector.
I wish to challenge Barry Berry’s assertion (February 18th), that Ryanair, with a fleet of over 200 aircraft, can safely manage its “heavy” maintenance requirements with “a two-bay B737 hangar and some marginal subcontracting”. In 2003, the airline commissioned just such a facility at Prestwick. That the airline is now committed to building another hangar at Prestwick, supported by a £1.5 million grant from the Scottish government, promising a further 200 jobs, makes a mockery of such an assertion. The “heavy” maintenance requirements of an airline of the size of Ryanair could fill the capacity of Hangar 6 and the facilities at Prestwick.
That such a valuable resource as Hangar 6 is currently under-utilised is a travesty. Mr O’Leary clearly hopes to acquire the property for a bargain price. That he can also embarrass the DAA and the Government may sweeten the deal, but if the opportunity is there to offer employment to 300 craftsmen, so what? Furthermore, the scare-mongering that Ryanair is seeking a site for a future terminal at Dublin Airport could easily be addressed by the terms of the lease, restricting the use of the hangar to maintenance.
In spite of talk of the need for leadership, the promotion of a smart economy to propel the country out of recession, when “smart” jobs are offered by the country’s leading entrepreneur, our politicians fail to act. How are we going to source work for the hundreds of highly trained aircraft craftsmen within the country? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – If what Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington (February 19th) tells us is true, that “Hangar 6 is the only hangar at Dublin Airport capable of accommodating more than one of the large wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft Aer Lingus uses for its transatlantic services”, then surely if he had mentioned it earlier, it would have saved hours of futile debate and recrimination.
Even the Government would have been able to explain this and saved us from all the histrionics. – Yours, etc,