Aer Lingus cabin crew accept EUR97 million cost-saving plan

Aer Lingus cabin crew backed a proposed EUR97 million cost-reduction plan at the carrier, with 92% of cabin crew voting in support, reversing an earlier vote against the plan (three weeks ago, cabin crew rejected the plan by a majority of almost two-third) (Irish Independent/Irish Times/Breaking News/RTE News, 27-Mar-2010). The carrier now has approval from all five union groups at the airline and now plans to implement its plan to achieve over 650 voluntary redundancies within two years, enact pay reductions of up to 10% and implement a three-year pay freeze. Aer Lingus had threatened to eliminate 230 of the over 1,000 IMPACT cabin crew position on a compulsory basis and terminate all the crew's employment and rehire them on inferior terms, following the previous vote against the plan. Aer Lingus stated it would now work with IMPACT to implement the productivity targets in the agreement, adding that it would discuss plans to increase annual working hours from 600 to 850 with cabin crew this week.