Madam, - To your description of the Aer Lingus top-management trio as "serious, intelligent men" (Editorial, November 17th), one might add a third adjective - naïve.
Management, however successful, doesn't out-rank ownership and while a milk-toast board of directors may have lulled the current top management into a false sense of invincibility, vis-à-vis fundamental policy, the trio finally hit the brick wall. Icarus, that early pioneer of aviation, had a similar experience.
In more recent times, Lee Iacocca hit his brick wall - Ford family policy - and was summarily dismissed from the Ford Motor Company by Henry Ford II. Iacocca went on to rescue the failing Chrysler Motor Company but the Ford Motor Company just picked a replacement and continued to prosper - its way.
For Ford Motor Company read Aer Lingus Teo. Both Mr Walsh and Mr Kearney rose through the ranks in Aer Lingus to become the hot properties they are today, in itself a comforting indication that the same "seed-bed" may contain more untapped management talent. Often, the clothes/title make the man.
One can almost hear the rustle of resumés being updated in Aer Lingus at the prospect of new career opportunities.
The "access-to-capital" argument has been dutifully trotted-out for the past 20 years every time the future of Aer Lingus came up for discussion. It is a true red herring . If we follow the model of today's budget-airlines, you don't have to own anything - you out-source it all. Equity funding is not free - it's simply an expectation deferred.
The most interesting question about the withdrawn Aer Lingus MBO is the identity of the financial backers/promoters of the proposal. One assumes that, though, well-paid and comfortably-off, the management trio could hardly write the cheque for an airline buy-out and so, one must further assume the presence of a shadowy puppet-master with deeper pockets. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL GILL, Lansing, Illinois, USA..