Aer Lingus to proceed with Transformation Plan despite airline pilots' rejection

Aer Lingus plans to proceed with plans to cut EUR97 million in costs by the end of 2011, through its Transformation Plan programme, after failing to reach an agreement staff unions (RTE News, 01-Dec-2009). CEO, Christoph Mueller, stated this is likely to lead to additional redundancies above the 676 voluntary redundancies outlined in the plan, and these redundancies may be compulsory. Mr Mueller added the carrier would not rule out further talks, as it had come close to agreements with all employee unions, except for the Irish Airline Pilots' Association. The pilots were reportedly seeking a 4% stake in the company in return for agreeing to the proposed plan (The Irish Times, 01-Dec-2009).

Aer Lingus: "The board and management will now move to reduce capacity, further eliminating routes which are loss making as a result of our high cost base. This will result in the operation of fewer aircraft, which in turn will lead to additional redundancies beyond those included in the Transformation Plan. It is very likely that these redundancies will commence immediately and will be compulsory," Christoph Mueller, CEO. Source: RTE News, 01-Dec-2009.

SIPTU stated (01-Dec-2009) it has made considerable progress with Aer Lingus management representatives concerning ground operations and head office/support, prior to the annoucement. [more]