Aer Lingus faces two major blows
Ferry Online Travel News 14/12/2009
Financial Director Sean Coyle annouces resignation
The Irish carrier Aer Lingus was dealt a double blow when their finance director decided to opt out and leave the company at the end of the month. Also, the airline’s negotiations with its employees once again came to a stand-off with neither party willing to give any ground.
The airline’s finance director and head of short haul operations, Sean Coyle, in a surprise decision has announced that he has tendered his resignation to the company authorities and will leave the company by the end of the month. The resignation has dealt a severe blow to the company, which is currently in major talks with its employees. The airline wanted to hand out some pink slips and also reduce the salaries of pilots who reportedly earn more than 35,000 euro per year. This is being strongly opposed by some employee unions.
Aer Lingus has been trying to reduce the money it spends on salaries by at least 97 million euro. The staff unions are resisting this move and no common ground for the unions and the struggling carrier has been found so far. Recently, the pilots who earn over 35,000 euro per year, made an offer that would save the company only 33 million euro in the coming year. However, around 15 percent crew would lose their jobs and the remainder would be beneficiaries of cuts and freezes. The airline did not think this was a viable option and the talks came to an abrupt end.
Aer Lingus further flamed the rumours when it applied for an operating license in UK. A move to Belfast or Gatwick seemed likely and to comply with UK standards, the crew would have to reapply, forcing them to accept jobs with reduced pay and conditions. However this rumour was later denied by the airline.
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