RYANAIR is anxious to acquire Aer Lingus because its brand is flagging across Europe.
This is according to the chief executive of Aer Lingus, Dermot Mannion, who said the Aer Lingus brand would be damaged with an association with Ryanair.
Mr Mannion also said he will keep Aer Lingus independent and plans to present a defence strategy against Ryanair’s all-cash bid of €1.40 a share.
He also cast doubt on Ryanair’s plans to restore the Shannon/Heathrow link, saying Ryanair announced it would be cutting routes at Shannon by 75% when the Government introduced the €10 air tax in the budget.
Aer Lingus have not yet spoken to the Government, which owns a 25% stake in the airline regarding Ryanair’s takeover bid, according to Mr Mannion.
Ryanair launched its second takeover bid for Aer Lingus last week. Its first attempt, at double the current offer, was thwarted by the European Commission on competition grounds in 2006.
"The situation is even more difficult from a competition position now than it was two years ago," said Mr Mannion. "Where are the other airlines going to come from in the current climate to pick up slots at Dublin airport if these two airlines merge?"
Speaking on RTÉ Radio yesterday Mr Mannion also said the acceptance by workers of a €50m cost saving plan means 200 staff will leave the airline and will not be replaced.
He said Aer Lingus would continue to be a significant employer with 3,500 staff.
He said what had been achieved with the unions in the past couple of weeks was "groundbreaking stuff".
The results of a ballot of IMPACT members at Aer Lingus on Monday showed 59% of cabin crew workers voted in favour of the plan agreed between the unions and management at the Labour Relations Commission in November.
Almost 80% of SIPTU members at Aer Lingus have voted to accept the proposals that would see redundancies, lower pay and more efficient work practices. Aer Lingus will also introduce new short-haul services next year, Mr Mannion said.
"The latest projections we put out for 2009 is that we will incur a loss, but that’s before we take into account €50m in cuts endorsed by labour unions," said Mr Mannion. "We will be recalibrating the budget in the next period of time and we will come out with a much better figure. This will reposition Aer Lingus, yet again, as an airline that will be even better able to compete with Ryanair."
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, December 10, 2008
