THE argument about whether or not the government should help Aer Lingus cope with the temporary crisis triggered by terrorist attacks in the US is a straight choice between the can-do free market and no-hope state carriers.

But the reality is different, and the key to understanding it is the transatlantic airline routes.

If we fail to support the national carrier in this emergency, we could well see a return to the 1950s with no direct flights between Ireland and the US.

Let's put to one side the intolerable inconvenience this would mean for individuals travelling to America via London, perhaps with three-hour check-in times in Dublin and Heathrow because of more stringent security checks.

An end to direct transatlantic flights or even a significant reduction would also have far-reaching economic effects way beyond Aer Lingus and the aviation sector.

It would mean massive damage to tourism, one of our biggest earning industries, which is already reeling from the aviation crisis and foot-and-mouth disease.

And it would prompt high-tech US multinationals among the pillars of our economic renaissance to relocate investment and jobs to European countries from where staff and cargo could be flown directly across the pond.

This is why the government's decision on emergency state aid is a strategic matter of importance to the whole economy. Similar strategic considerations have moved free market devotees in the US government to inject $15bn into its civil aviation industry on foot of the crisis.

The US rescue package is not about security alone. A mix of $5bn in direct grants and $10bn in loan guarantees is being targeted at the US airlines that have the best chance of surviving, in order to preserve vital economic infrastructure.

How real is the threat to direct transatlantic routes? Three airlines flew direct between Ireland and the US before September 11 Aer Lingus, Delta and Continental.

Delta has already withdrawn from transatlantic routes and Continental is reviewing its position. In both cases decisions are naturally being driven by US, not Irish, needs.

Aer Lingus has already announced plans to withdraw from its hard-won Baltimore and Newark routes, roughly a third of its US operations.

It is simply madness to withdraw from transatlantic routes on this scale on the basis of what is likely to be a short-term, albeit sharp, downturn.

A government cash injection is vital to halt these plans and prevent further reductions in Irish transatlantic flights.

Without it, the best we can hope for is a much reduced service run by US airlines, who will decide whether, how, and at what price Irish and European passengers and cargoes cross the pond.

IMPACT told the Minister for Public Enterprise this week that existing EU rules allow the state to help, despite the widespread assumption that government cash injections are forbidden.

A 1994 European Commission interpretation of the rules explicitly allows additional state support for national carriers under exceptional circumstances, unforeseeable and external to the company.

State assistance for normal commercial difficulties are tightly restricted by EU rules (although the market economy investor principle allows governments to invest in national airlines on the basis of normal commercial criteria).

There is no chance of the Commission allowing the state to help Aer Lingus with trading difficulties that existed before the attack on the World Trade Centre and nobody is asking for that.

But if a 75pc fall in bookings on the back of hijacked planes being flown into the twin towers and the Pentagon does not constitute circumstances exceptional, unforeseeable, and external to the company, I can't think what would.

IMPACT has accepted that the company's cost base must fall as part of the crisis response. We accept that demands for company restructuring in return for state assistance are likely, and we are ready to play our part in that on a partnership basis.

My union has already put forward ideas to cut costs and reduce potential job losses, which would themselves be a short-term cost to the company.

For instance, we want to see a return to the former company policy of voluntary winter lay-offs, career breaks, study leave, and part-time work.

We have called on FÁS to help retrain staff who leave the company. And we want specific measures to allow pilot cadets finish their training, and departing cabin crew keep validity certificates that would allow them return when the industry picks up.

But IMPACT's call for state intervention is about more than simply protecting Aer Lingus staff and their jobs.

It is about the long-term prospects for jobs and investment throughout the economy, from tourism to pharmaceuticals to IT.

In short, it is about defending Ireland's strategic economic and commercial interests.

* Shay Cody is deputy general secretary of IMPACT trade union, which has over 2,500 members in Aer Lingus, including pilots, cabin crew, and middle management grades.

- Shay Cody