Aer Lingus to cut 230 cabin crew
Tuesday, 9 March 2010 16:38
Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller has notified the Government of 230 compulsory redundancies among cabin crew.
Mr Mueller said that as four of the five unions at Aer Lingus had accepted its €97m restructuring plan, the management must respect that vote, and would proceed with around 440 voluntary redundancies covering those workers.
He said the company would move ahead with the implementation of its cost-cutting plan within a matter of days.
Originally the company had said it would need to secure work practice changes and around 500 redundancies. Otherwise it would impose 1,065 compulsory redundancies in a scenario known as 'Plan B'.
Mr Mueller said that as a result of the union votes, the company was somewhere between 'Plan A' and 'Plan B'. He said that, as the majority of the workforce was in favour of Plan A, it would implement this among the four unions that voted in favour, and seek compulsory redundancies among the cabin crew who had voted against. Management is outlining the plan to unions today.
Aer Lingus lost €81m last year
Earlier, Aer Lingus reported an operating loss of €81m for 2009, a fourfold increase from the losses of €20m reported in 2008.
Revenues fell by 11% to just over €1.2 billion from €1.36 billion. The airline said that a strong performance in ancillary revenues was offset by reduced passenger fare and cargo revenue.
The airline this morning published an unaudited trading update for last year after delaying the publication of its annual results as it held an emergency board meeting to consider alternative plans to achieve €97m in savings.
The airline said its passenger numbers during the year rose by 3.8% to 10.4 million as its total capacity fell by 5.1%.
Aer Lingus said its operating result represents an operating loss before exceptional items of €93m in the first six months of the year, followed by a second half operating profit before exceptional items of €12m in the second half of the year.
The carrier said its average fares for the year declined by 16.8% - a 12% fall on average short haul fares and a 15.9% fall on average long haul fares.
Ancillary revenues rose by 16% to €173.9m, while cargo revenues slumped almost 32% to €34.3m.
The airline said its fuel costs last year declined by 17.3% to €331.7m due to its lower capacity and after it was released from more expensive fuel hedging agreements as the year progressed.
The group said it will issue its full annual results in 'due course'. Its pre-tax loss was €66.2m.
Craft workers accept airline's cost cutting plan
All five workers' groups at the company have held separate ballots on the proposed restructuring plan.
Last night craft workers, who are members of the Unite union, approved the plan with 83% voting in favour. However, cabin crew had already rejected it by nearly two to one.
The craft workers have become the fourth of five Aer Lingus worker groups to vote to accept the airline's proposed restructuring plan. They join pilots, ground operations staff, and middle management who also approved the proposals.
The only group to have rejected the plan is cabin crew, who belong to the Impact trade union.
The original blueprint had envisaged €97m worth of running costs being shaved from the airline between now and 2012, and involved measures such as 600 redundancies and pay cuts.
Aer Lingus shares were up 2% to 61 cent in Dublin this afternoon
(RTE news)
Tuesday, 9 March 2010 16:38
Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller has notified the Government of 230 compulsory redundancies among cabin crew.
Mr Mueller said that as four of the five unions at Aer Lingus had accepted its €97m restructuring plan, the management must respect that vote, and would proceed with around 440 voluntary redundancies covering those workers.
He said the company would move ahead with the implementation of its cost-cutting plan within a matter of days.
Originally the company had said it would need to secure work practice changes and around 500 redundancies. Otherwise it would impose 1,065 compulsory redundancies in a scenario known as 'Plan B'.
Mr Mueller said that as a result of the union votes, the company was somewhere between 'Plan A' and 'Plan B'. He said that, as the majority of the workforce was in favour of Plan A, it would implement this among the four unions that voted in favour, and seek compulsory redundancies among the cabin crew who had voted against. Management is outlining the plan to unions today.
Aer Lingus lost €81m last year
Earlier, Aer Lingus reported an operating loss of €81m for 2009, a fourfold increase from the losses of €20m reported in 2008.
Revenues fell by 11% to just over €1.2 billion from €1.36 billion. The airline said that a strong performance in ancillary revenues was offset by reduced passenger fare and cargo revenue.
The airline this morning published an unaudited trading update for last year after delaying the publication of its annual results as it held an emergency board meeting to consider alternative plans to achieve €97m in savings.
The airline said its passenger numbers during the year rose by 3.8% to 10.4 million as its total capacity fell by 5.1%.
Aer Lingus said its operating result represents an operating loss before exceptional items of €93m in the first six months of the year, followed by a second half operating profit before exceptional items of €12m in the second half of the year.
The carrier said its average fares for the year declined by 16.8% - a 12% fall on average short haul fares and a 15.9% fall on average long haul fares.
Ancillary revenues rose by 16% to €173.9m, while cargo revenues slumped almost 32% to €34.3m.
The airline said its fuel costs last year declined by 17.3% to €331.7m due to its lower capacity and after it was released from more expensive fuel hedging agreements as the year progressed.
The group said it will issue its full annual results in 'due course'. Its pre-tax loss was €66.2m.
Craft workers accept airline's cost cutting plan
All five workers' groups at the company have held separate ballots on the proposed restructuring plan.
Last night craft workers, who are members of the Unite union, approved the plan with 83% voting in favour. However, cabin crew had already rejected it by nearly two to one.
The craft workers have become the fourth of five Aer Lingus worker groups to vote to accept the airline's proposed restructuring plan. They join pilots, ground operations staff, and middle management who also approved the proposals.
The only group to have rejected the plan is cabin crew, who belong to the Impact trade union.
The original blueprint had envisaged €97m worth of running costs being shaved from the airline between now and 2012, and involved measures such as 600 redundancies and pay cuts.
Aer Lingus shares were up 2% to 61 cent in Dublin this afternoon
(RTE news)
