Call for Cabinet meeting at Shannon
The Taoiseach and his government ministers should hold their first post-summer Cabinet meeting in Shannon to personally gauge local anger over the decision by Aer Lingus to switch Heathrow flights from the Mid-West hub to Belfast, it was claimed today.
The Government is due to hold its first Cabinet meeting since the summer break on August 29.
Travel chaos for 40,000 passengers was averted yesterday when a planned 48-hour strike by 500 of the airline’s pilots was cancelled after they agreed to enter talks with management over pay conditions at the new Belfast base.
Up to 70 Fine Gael TDs, Senators and local authority members will today hold a meeting in Shannon to discuss party strategy on the issue and to hear the concerns of Mid-West business and tourism leaders.
“If the Cabinet met here in Shannon next week, they could hear directly from those affected by the decision by Aer Lingus to remove the Shannon-Heathrow slots,” said Co Clare-based Fine Gael TD Joe Carey.
“It would show a genuine commitment to address those concerns, something that has been lacking up to this point. The longer this crisis is allowed to drag on without resolution, the more damage is done, not only to Aer Lingus, but the region as a whole.
“You have to ask yourself, if a similar issue arose at Dublin Airport, would the Cabinet be so complacent?”
Meanwhile, Aer Lingus said it would be assessing the financial cost to the company of the threatened strike.
It said its fleet of aircraft had a load factor in the “low 70s” this morning compared with average of 75-80%.
“Yesterday was our busiest time in some time – 98% of all of our flights were full,” said commercial director Enda Corneille.
“A strike is not welcome at any time. It’s good that it’s not happening. The cost is something we will be evaluating over the next number of days.”
He added: “Customers should have full confidence in Aer Lingus in making bookings. We’ve been selling very heavily in the run-up to the strike for the next few months.”
The Irish Airline Pilots Association (Ialpa) and Aer Lingus management last night agreed to go to the industrial relations trouble-shooter, the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), to resolve the bitter dispute over pay and conditions of pilots at the new Belfast base.
Last night, Aer Lingus rival Ryanair took its stake in the former state airline to more than 29.4%.
Ryanair is now the largest shareholder in Aer Lingus, ahead of the Government, which has a 25% stake and the employee share ownership trust (Esot), which owns 12.6%.
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