Aer Lingus outsource plan sparks jobs alarm
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WORRIED Aer Lingus workers are to seek guarantees on hundreds of jobs after it emerged the airline is planning a major outsourcing programme.
Industry sources told the Irish Independent the airline has been talking to several potential suppliers, including Servisair, which carries out ground handling for 140 airports worldwide.
It has already entered negotiations with Shannon Airport about outsourcing its ground- handling operations and negotiating more favourable landing charges.
The carrier, which recently appointed a former Ryanair manager as its chief financial officer, is also "looking at" other airlines to see how cabin crew are paid with a view to making massive savings of up to €100m next year.
The moves are part of an enormous preparatory project by senior managers ahead of the announcement of a cost-cutting plan, which will be unveiled by the end of the month.
Sources said staff would be given the option of transferring to the new contractor or accepting a severance package.
Baggage handlers, caterers, check-in staff, loaders and staff working in the cargo terminal are likely to be affected.
Aer Lingus announced it would review its operational costs last month after reporting losses of €22m for the first-half of the year, blaming spiralling oil prices for the downturn in its fortunes.
There has been speculation that up to 1,300 ground staff jobs could be axed but sources at Aer Lingus denied that any concrete redundancy figures had been decided. An Aer Lingus spokesman would not deny the outsourcing proposals were afoot, but said he was "not confirming them".
Speculation is mounting that the airline may pull the plug on all of the ground staff working in all Irish airports, at Dublin, Cork and Shannon, to enable the airline to survive.
Unions have been braced for the fact that dramatic cuts were coming, with one spokesman for IMPACT admitting he expected "pretty strong proposals".
However, sources said they believed management was taking a hardline attitude after failing to secure board approval for its initial cost-cutting proposals last week.
The head of the country's biggest union reacted angrily to the possibility of any outsourcing plans and warned that they would "torpedo" any new national pay deal.
General president of SIPTU, Jack O'Connor, said he would seek assurances from Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion this week on the airline's proposals.
"I'll be writing to CEO Dermot Mannion for clarification and warning him of the implications," he said, as the possibility of strike action again reared its head.
The rising cost of fuel has hit all airlines, and stockbrokers predict Aer Lingus could lose between €25m and €40m this year and around €90m next year.
Suffered
The airline, which made a pre-tax profit of almost €7m in the first half last year, suffered as its fuel bill jumped 49pc.
Chief financial officer Sean Coyle warned that a "three-figure" loss was possible for 2009.
There has been speculation that the cuts could involve US-based cabin crew flying on services to Ireland and going back on return flights the same day.
But IMPACT said this would be unlawful under internationally agreed standards for the aviation industry.
"For example, a conservative estimate of a same day return flight between New York and Dublin would constitute a minimum of an 18-hour working day for flight staff," said a spokesperson. "International standards prohibit this type of practice in the interests of both workers and public safety."
He said there were no negotiations under way between IMPACT and Aer Lingus on cost-cutting measures.
The union is not expecting any proposals to be presented to staff until the end of the month, following the airline's announcement of a "root and branch review".
"To date, no proposals have been presented and no negotiations have taken place," said the spokesman.
He stressed that unions would expect Aer Lingus to respect the contribution already made by staff in a previous cost-cutting package, the Programme for Continuous Improvement.
- Anne-Marie Walsh
