Tag Archives: Aer Lingus

SHANNON-based Aer Lingus employees who are currently out of work are very disillusioned with their treatment during the pandemic. Speaking on Tuesday, one worker said that Shannon employees were first laid off, despite having given greater service in many cases than colleagues based at Dublin and Cork. “We are the most senior crew, yet we were laid off on June 21. We ended up on the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and now since the start of September we’re supposed to be on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, but it’s been a disaster because most of us have been rejected for it. We’ve been sending in applications and getting rejected, whatever way the glitch is they haven’t us off the TWSS.” It has not been possible to get answers from the company, they claimed. “There’s a group of us who asked to meet the Commercial Department of Aer Lingus three weeks ago to ask why Shannon is being used as a pawn. …

WITH real fears that Aer Lingus will now replace Shannon-US flights with UK-US ones, Clare TD Michael McNamara says that the decision to sell the State’s shares in the former national airline was a mistake. “Certainly selling all of them (the Aer Lingus shares) was unwise, the Government has little or no leverage over Aer Lingus now. They have as much leverage over Aer Lingus now as they do over Ryanair and Michael O’Leary has demonstrated the level that they have over Ryanair – none,” said the independent TD. He feels that the airline’s staff in Shannon have been poorly treated, while he says that if the transatlantic services are ultimately lost to the Clare airport, something that would have seismic local economic consequences, it will be a terrible indictment of Irish policy. “I met with some members of Aer Lingus staff yesterday (Monday) and they’re being treated in an appalling way by Aer Lingus. They’re literally being left dangling, …

SHANNON Airport looks set for yet another body blow following reports that Aer Lingus are considering moving their transatlantic services to the United Kingdom. Aer Lingus have a number of aircraft based in Shannon and two of them are A321, which is a narrow bodied aircraft with long range with a smaller capacity than bigger A330. They are ideal for long haul flights from Shannon as they are cheaper to run than other aircraft and can take smaller numbers of passengers. It understood some English airports have indicated they are interested in hosting these aircraft and developing transatlantic services from these locations. A Shannon Group spokesperson said the group is in ongoing discussions with Aer Lingus regarding the resumption of its Heathrow and transatlantic operations. “These long established services have been hugely successful and their resumption is critical for business and tourism across western and southern regions. “These and other services have been suspended due to advice against non-essential travel …

WITH Aer Lingus having lost more than €1.5 million per day since the pandemic struck, it has warned that its Shannon base is at risk. In a statement last week the former national carrier warned of major cutbacks and it sought to put some of the blame on its workers and the Irish Government. “The catastrophic impact of COVID-19 on the aviation sector has been compounded in Ireland by the implementation of the most restrictive travel policies in Europe and the failure to implement supports for the sector. Aer Lingus has also not made the required progress on the implementation of industry standard work practices with key cohorts of employees. ” In this context and given the Aer Lingus quarterly results today, significant redundancies are required across the business. The redundancies will be on a voluntary basis if possible but may be implemented compulsorily if required. Consultations are ongoing with the relevant representative bodies in this regard. Aer Lingus is …

Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe has expressed alarm at today’s (Friday) announcement by Aer Lingus that 500 jobs are to go at the airline. The flag carrier has blamed the global halt in air traffic due to COVID-19 on the move and Deputy Crowe is seriously concerned for workers at Shannon Airport. In a statement to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Aer Lingus outlined plans for redundancies for these workers, pointing to the fact that they are operating at less than 5% their usual capacity. “Management at Aer Lingus has been cavalier with Shannon staff,” Deputy Crowe said. “Unions haven’t been given sufficient time to engage with the workers here and to date, no acknowledgement has been made of the fact that many of the Shannon-based staff rank higher in seniority than their counterparts in Cork and Dublin. “The process appears not to be ‘last in, first out’, but rather a targeting of Shannon-based staff. “My …

MORE public transport options that are connected to Shannon Airport are needed to make it more attractive for passengers, according to the first citizen. Clare County Council chairman, Councillor Michael Begley has cited his recent experience on a flight from Shannon Airport to Birmingham in England to highlight the difference between what transport opportunities are available for passengers in these two locations. Speaking at a recent Killaloe Municipal District meeting, Councillor Begley told his council colleagues he left Shannon Airport for Birmingham the previous Monday evening. “To my surprise the flight was almost full. Within two hours of leaving Shannon, I had used the plane, shuttle bus, light rail, monorail and a train to be in Birmingham City Centre in two hours. “That is what real access means to me. We are nowhere related to that. I am using Birmingham because it was a commuter short flight. “We have to think how we can make Shannon more attractive to the …

THERE was some surprise around the county that the Clare hurling team didn’t fly from Shannon for the recent Fenway Hurling Classic in Boston. Obviously Shannon was the logical place for them to fly out of, rather than Dublin, and with the Clare airport always looking for local support, having the county’s hurling team fly from there would have been appreciated. However, although some members of the Limerick squad departed from Shannon, the Banner crossed the country to Dublin Airport, before boarding their flight to the States. In a statement this week Aer Lingus, which sponsored flights for the competing teams, claimed that Clare had to go to Dublin because there had been a very high level of demand. “Aer Lingus was delighted to partner with the Gaelic Players Association and GAA again, this year as a title sponsor, of the Aer Lingus Fenway Hurling Classic 2018 held at Boston’s iconic Fenway Park. We supported flights for the four teams …

AER LINGUS has opted to reverse a pattern of recent years at Shannon, opting to continue with its New York service in the opening months of 2019, while suspending its Boston service. A spokesperson for Shannon said that in the final analysis Aer Lingus will now be able to accommodate more passengers travelling between Shannon and the US due to this move. “On balance we are pleased with the extra transatlantic capacity that this service switch creates. This change strengthens Aer Lingus’s commitment to Shannon by adding an extra 2,500 (seats) and restores a year-round service from New York to Shannon, but we are disappointed that the Boston market can only be accessed via New York for this two month winter period.” While the statement said that Shannon would continue to work with Aer Lingus on the Boston service, there are extra benefits to maintaining a link with a major global hub like JFK. “The benefits of the restoration and …