Aer Lingus risks take-over from Ryanair
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Loading ... Loading ... Posted on: December 10th, 2009 by Martin Fellowes
The new head of the Irish carrier, Aer Lingus, has said that the airline could well be taken over by rival operator if the employees of the firm do not agree to cost cutting measures soon. Cristoph Mueller has said this week that if the airline does not control its own path than someone else will come in and take over the reins and steer it in a different direction.
The airline is said to be trying to cut €97 million from its wage bill by reducing staff by up to 1,000 and handing out a wage cut to those that earn more than €35,000 per year. There have been long talks between unions and airline bosses, but they have not come any closer to agreeing a deal. Ryanair already own a stake in the carrier and have so far had two bids for take-over shut down.
There have also been rumours circulating that Aer Lingus could move their operations to the UK if a deal cannot be met with its staff. They have already applied for a UK operator’s license that would let them move to either Gatwick or Belfast. This would in effect make them a new company and staff would have to reapply for their jobs and Aer Lingus could reduce the wage this way.
The airline has said this week that they have no immediate plans to change their major base away from Dublin as this could take up to three months to implement, but do see it as a plan if things do not go right.