Aer Lingus cabin crew call off industrial action
Aer Lingus cabin crew tonight called off a planned work-to-rule over new rosters after an industrial relations troubleshooter stepped in.
The airline was facing the unrest – but no threat to flight schedules – a day after announcing €19m losses for the first half of the year.
The Impact trade union said it would give staff time to digest the recommendations.
“It would be unreasonable to press ahead with industrial action while this happens and Impact is, therefore, suspending its planned work-to-rule to allow detailed consideration of the arbitration finding,” a spokesman said.
Kieran Mulvey, chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), issued a 39-page document aimed at ending the dispute over new working times.
The LRC recommended revising existing agreements in order to meet the objective of 850 flying hours a year as part of cabin crews’ overall working time.
Earlier, the airline vowed to break even this year after enjoying a dramatic fall in financial losses.
The company wants new rosters for cabin crew as part of a much wider €97m cost-cutting programme.
Its losses for the first half of this year were an 80% fall on the losses suffered in the same period last year.
Chief executive Christoph Mueller said the improvements were significant despite difficulties caused by the Icelandic volcanic ash crisis and sluggish markets.
“Despite the group’s strong commercial performance, Aer Lingus has not been complacent in addressing its cost position,” he said.
“The group remains committed to implementing all aspects of the Greenfield Cost Reduction Programme in order to position Aer Lingus for a successful future.”
Mr Mueller added: “For the 2010 full year, we expect to report an operating performance (before exceptional items) of no worse than break-even.
“This would represent a good performance in difficult market conditions but is predicated on the delivery of committed staff productivity savings and no further significant disruptions to operations from industrial action or airspace closures.”
Aer Lingus carried 4.4 million passengers in the first half of the year, half a million fewer than the same time last year, but managed to reduce losses by 80% from €93m in January to June 2009 to €19m this year.
