Aer Lingus says it needs to make “significant redundancies”, and that it’s reviewing the viability of its base at Shannon Airport.
The airline has told staff that in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, that it does not see a meaningful resumption of operations out of Shannon any time soon.
This morning, Aer Lingus’ parent company IAG posted pre-tax losses of €4.2 billion for the first half of the year.
A year ago, it made a profit of €1 billion.
IAG is expecting that it will be 2023 before passenger demand recovers, and it has also warned that it is “restructuring its cost base” to reduce the size of airlines, including Aer Lingus.
Today, Aer Lingus staff at Shannon have been told by their employer that it needs to take further steps to address this crisis, in moves which could further impact those workers.
The airline says it has “no line of sight” on any meaningful resumption of operations from Cork and Shannon, and as a result it’s “reviewing the scale of their flying programme” from both airports, and the viability of their regional bases there.
The airline criticises government policies on aviation, calling them the most restrictive in Europe
It adds that this, and the failure to strike a deal with unions shows “there has been a failure in Ireland amongst a number of key stakeholders to understand or appreciate the scale and depth of the crisis in the aviation sector.”
The airline says the decisions ahead will not be taken lightly, but are critical to protect the company.
The note to staff finishes by saying further information will be provided “as it becomes available.”
In a statement to Clare FM, Aer Lingus says it needs to make “significant redundancies” across its business and says compulsory redundancies will be implemented if needed.
Statement From Aer Lingus
The catastrophic impact of COVID-19 on the aviation sector has been compounded in Ireland by the implementation of the most restrictive travel policies in Europe and the failure to implement supports for the sector. Aer Lingus has also not made the required progress on the implementation of industry standard work practices with key cohorts of employees. In this context and given the Aer Lingus quarterly results today, significant redundancies are required across the business. The redundancies will be on voluntary basis if possible but may be implemented compulsorily if required. Consultations are ongoing with the relevant representative bodies in this regard. Aer Lingus is also reviewing the scale of our flying programme from Cork and Shannon Airports and the ongoing viability of our regional bases there.
