Job losses in Aer Lingus takeover 'would be replaced'
It has been confirmed that some jobs at Aer Lingus WOULD be lost if the airline was taken over by IAG.
However, the group's chief executive claims the jobs would be replaced because he would be able to grow the airline.
Willie Walsh told the Oireachtas Transport Committee he cannot see any reason why Aer Lingus's routes to Heathrow from Cork and Shannon would be cut off. He said the routes were commercially profitable and had value for transfer traffic.
He also said he would expect to recover any jobs that might be lost if the Aer Lingus deal is given the go-ahead.
"Will there be rationalisation as a result of Aer Lingus being part of IAG? Yes there will - because we've centralised certain activities, procurement probably being the best example of that," he told the committee.
"But the real story behind what we want to do is growth - it's all about growth. It's about growing the Aer Lingus network, and with the growth in the Aer Lingus network comes the growth in jobs."
He also said Aer Lingus had a tough job ahead of them to survive without IAG's assistance, as other airlines such as Ryanair become stronger.
