Aer Lingus Cabin Crew Reject Cost Cutting Plan

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Titlu: Aer Lingus Cabin Crew Reject Cost Cutting Plan
Sursa: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1267827407.html
Autor: Reuters
Data: 05/03/2010

Citat :

Aer Lingus cabin crew rejected on Friday a cost savings plan recommended by their union and proposed by the Irish airline to stop it burning through its cash reserves.

Aer Lingus, which has fended off two hostile bids by Irish rival Ryanair, wants to reduce its annual operating costs by EUR€97 million euros (USD$132 million) by shedding almost one fifth of staff.

The airline said its pilots and middle management voted in favour of the plan and that it would comment on the results once it receives the remaining two ballots of ground, support and maintenance staff, expected to be returned on Monday.

Aer Lingus did not rule out compulsory redundancies when warning employees that it will implement an alternative cost cutting plan if agreement cannot be reached.

Last month cabin crew at British Airways overwhelmingly backed strike action in their dispute over job losses and proposed changes to working practices.

Titlu: Aer Lingus Postpones Results In Union Standoff
Sursa: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1268086536.html
Autor: Reuters
Data: 08/03/2010

Citat :

Irish airline Aer Lingus will not publish its 2009 earnings on Tuesday as planned so it can adjust provisions for cost-cutting measures that cabin crew rejected last week.

The former state airline said it would not publish full results until an unspecified date, and would issue a brief trading update on Tuesday instead.

Aer Lingus, which has fended off two hostile bids by Irish rival Ryanair, wants to reduce its annual operating costs by EUR€97 million euros (USD$133 million) by shedding up to a fifth of staff.

The proposed plan to stop it burning through its cash reserves has been accepted by unions representing pilots, middle management and by some ground staff and cabin crew.

But cabin crew represented by the IMPACT union rejected the plan on Friday, and maintenance staff will only publish the result of their ballot on Tuesday. Aer Lingus said it was determined to realise the planned cuts in any case.

"These savings are vital to realign the cost base of the company and position Aer Lingus for a successful future," it said in a statement.

Aer Lingus is expected to announce a 2009 operating loss of EUR€87.7 million, in-house broker Goodbody said.

If it does not get agreement from unions, Aer Lingus has said it would push ahead with an alternative plan to streamline the company by imposing more redundancies, some on a compulsory basis.

"The Company's Board of Directors will meet tomorrow to formally approve the steps that will now be taken to achieve these cost savings," it said.

Aer Lingus' shares -- of which Ryanair, the government and employees control 70 percent between them -- fell 1.6 percent in late trade to 0.60 euros, reversing earlier gains and trading at less than half the 1.4 euros Ryanair offered in late 2008.

Airlines are reeling from aviation's worst year on record, during which demand dropped faster than capacity was trimmed, but workers across the industry have lost patience with cost-cutting programmes.

Lufthansa and British Airways have been two of the biggest European carriers hit by strikes this year.

In another fresh risk to Ireland's traditionally peaceful industrial relations, public sector unions said on Monday they would begin strikes in an escalation of their campaign against the government's fiscal reforms.

Titlu: Aer Lingus Full-Year Operating Loss Quadruples
Sursa: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1268136286.html
Autor: Reuters
Data: 09/03/2010

Citat :

Operating losses at Aer Lingus quadrupled in 2009 according to an unaudited trading update issued after the Irish airline postponed publishing full results in a standoff with staff over cost-cutting measures.

The company's board will meet later on Tuesday to adjust provisions for cost-cutting measures after cabin crew opposed a plan to reduce its annual operating costs by EUR€97 million euros (USD$133 million) by shedding up to a fifth of staff.

The proposed plan to stop it burning through its cash reserves had been accepted by unions representing pilots, middle management, maintenance staff and by some ground staff and cabin crew.

Aer Lingus, which has fended off two hostile bids by Irish rival Ryanair, is also reeling from aviation's worst year on record and saw its operating loss widen to EUR€81 million from EUR€20 million in 2008.

Total revenue at the former flag carrier declined 11 percent to EUR€1.2 billion as ancillary revenues -- fees charged for services such as checking bags -- helped cushion reduced passenger fares and cargo revenues.