The Irish airline Aer Lingus was last night facing the threat of strike action after it announced swingeing job cuts and the outsourcing of all ground staff at Dublin airport as part of a €74m (£57m) cost-saving programme. Up to 1,500 jobs will be lost by November 1, although the company said it would offer a voluntary severance or early retirement package, and those who do not take redundancy may transfer to a new service provider.
The former state carrier wants to slash €50m from its payroll after last month announcing losses of €22m for the first half of the year. After a two-and-a-half hour meeting with unions in Dublin, its management said it would also eliminate €14m from its bill for advertising, distribution, airport costs and professional fees. A further €10m will be deducted from long-haul services, including flights to New York, Boston and San Francisco.
Siptu, the largest trade union involved, said it would ballot its members this week on industrial action. Its national industrial secretary, Gerry McCormack, said: "We are totally opposed to outsourcing." He said the plan "represents a fire sale of good quality jobs by a management that can see no further than the next quarter's profit and loss sheet".
The Impact trade union said the proposals were draconian and severe. "Impact will be consulting with its members employed at Aer Lingus before further steps are taken," said a spokesman.
The airline's chief executive, Dermot Mannion, said the plan was necessary to assure the company's future. "The strategy today is to safeguard our long-haul services from Dublin and Shannon. In order to do that we are going to have to implement a very aggressive and radical cost-cutting plan," he said.
The airline said all ground operations, including check-in, baggage handling, cargo and catering, would be axed at Dublin airport and outsourced. Shannon-based cabin crew and the mid-west airport's ground operations and cargo services will go, while ground operations in Cork will also be cut. Cabin crew bases in Heathrow will close, but the airline's new Belfast hub will not be affected.
Tommy Broughan, the Irish Labour spokesman on transport, said the cuts went further than people's worst fears. "Job losses on such a scale would mean that our national airline will be reduced to little more than a shell of its former self," he said. "What was once an international brand of recognised quality is now becoming just another low-cost airline."
Fergus O'Dowd, transport spokesman for Fine Gael, said: "The survival of Aer Lingus is necessary to maintain a competitive airline industry in Ireland."