Airport managers must report to Dublin

DUBLIN control over Shannon Airport has been tightened under a recently introduced management reporting structure, which the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) explained is in the interests of efficiency.

In the wake of the cost recovery plan that brought in pay cuts in the first quarter of the year, Shannon escaped with just a handful of job losses due to the extensive stripping down of the workforce under an earlier rationalisation scheme. Shortly afterwards, the DAA introduced a new management reporting structure under which Shannon management are now required to report upwards to managers in the Dublin parent authority. In some instances, Shannon managers with a number of functions now have to report up the line to more than one head of a department or division in Dublin.
The introduction of an upper Dublin layer of management supervision has revived the thorny issue of Shannon independence, which has gone on since well before the break-up of the former Aer Rianta. Widespread concern over Dublin control prompted a grilling for the then airports authority chairman, Noel Hanlon from Clare County Council.
The Government pledge of “independence for Shannon” was also a critical factor in bringing Shannon staff and interests around to the division of the three State airports in 2004. Staff were split on the issue and particularly so in the dominant SIPTU union where a preference for remaining within the Aer Rianta structure was reluctantly and even grudgingly dropped.
Shannon took heart when the late Seamus Brennan, as minister, pledged that Shannon would be granted autonomy debt-free. His statement on the morning of the break-up announcement that Shannon would hold onto its Aer Rianta International golden goose, which returns substantial profits each year, was well received.
With Shannon still operating under the overall control of the Dublin parent authority, the issue of local decision-making has continued to simmer and resurfaced most recently in the interim report of the Mid-West Task Force.
Listed as a “critical requirement” for airport growth in its report of last July, the task force recommended “pending separation from the Dublin Airport Authority, Shannon Airport needs to operate with increased executive autonomy to maximise its potential and its development impact on the region”.
Westpark developer, Brian O’Connell, who is a member of the task force which made the recommendation, earlier this year was appointed chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority and was also appointed to the board of the Dublin Airport Authority. Under the new board appointments, the finance director with the DAA, Ray Gray was appointed to a seat on the Shannon board.
The DAA is giving very little away about the upward reporting system. Queries were put by The Clare Champion to the DAA public affairs office asking for confirmation of details of the “functional reporting structure” introduced under the competitiveness restructuring programme, which came into effect in recent months.
In a statement, the company said, “The Dublin Airport Authority has an Irish business that comprises Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports and also operates an overseas arm Aer Rianta International.
“The DAA structures its business to operate efficiently and cost-effectively in line with best practice. Management reporting lines within that structure are a matter for individual employees and their respective line managers,” the company stated.