Drivers working for Aircoach have accepted a pay offer worth 4.8 per cent over nine months alongside new rostering and rotation arrangements to replace those introduced at the start of July, which had prompted drivers to work “under protest” in recent weeks.
The company, which is owned by UK operator Firstbus, is understood to have made changes to legacy rostering arrangements but these proved unpopular among many of its 150 drivers.
Aircoach managing director Kim Swan said she was hopeful the latest agreement would ease challenges the company has faced in terms of recruiting drivers, which led to the cancellation of a number of services in recent weeks.
“It’s very important because we want to have a workplace where we attract drivers,” she told The Irish Times. “Whenever we have this short-term disruption, it becomes more difficult. We are very happy to have that resolved.”
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Ms Swan led the company’s talks with the union Siptu, which she insisted were carried out in good spirit.
“It was a little disappointing some media reported we were in dispute with the union,” she said. “It absolutely wasn’t the case, and I think Siptu came out and said that.
“I was fully involved in the negotiations. I would always say these things have to be led from the front. We had to make changes to the business.”
Ms Swan said the extent of the driver shortage “shocked” the company, which was forced to draft in reinforcements from its UK parent.
“We are definitely seeing a shortage of drivers and we have recently had to lean into Firstbus to take some drivers across [from Britain] to support us,” she said. “When you make an application to the NTA, it can take a minimum of three months to get a licence through.
“We probably didn’t expect the shortage to be as acute as it was. It came as a bit of a shock to us that we did struggle to recruit. It was summer peak time as well. But we reviewed our terms and conditions.
“We obviously had to revise the drivers’ rosters and duties. Now, for me, it is about how quickly do we make ourselves attractive, and that all comes down to our terms and conditions, and I suppose our culture.”
The nine-month pay offer is intended to bring the company’s Irish operation into line with the timing of pay arrangements in the UK. Ms Swan said fresh negotiations will take place at the conclusion of that period.
“There is an annual wage negotiation,” she said. “It would be nice to secure a deal for longer, but we’re in a cost-of-living crisis. We’re in very turbulent times, so it would be difficult to do a pay deal for a number of years.
“We’ve seen companies that have done pay deals for a number of years and now they’re being asked to review them because the cost of living has risen.”
Aircoach’s Irish operation recorded a profit of €1.6 million for the year to March 2023, but Ms Swan said the 2024 results will be down on that following a “turbulent year” for the company.
“We had much greater problems with driver numbers, and taking in significant numbers from Britain put downward pressure on the performance of the company, so the position has worsened, but we are now on a trajectory where are turning the business around,” she said.
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