Ryanair offers to aid Aer Lingus

Ryanair has offered to provide fully staffed aircraft to Aer Lingus if the staff of the national carrier follow through on their threatened strike.

The no-frills airline has written to Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Müller in support of the position that he has taken in not contributing to their defined contribution scheme.

“Ryanair is willing to provide whatever aircraft Aer Lingus needs to enable them to avoid disruptions to Aer Lingus’ flights or services should the Aer Lingus unions engage in any industrial relations blackmail over these unjustified pension claims,” said a spokesperson for Ryanair.

Ryanair has described the trade union’s demands as industrial blackmail. It said that the unions’ demands on Aer Lingus were the equivalent of more than half of the airlines’ total profitability.

As a company interested in owning Aer Lingus outright, Ryanair would be hoping that any legacy issues with the massive Aer Lingus Dublin Airport Authority pension scheme would be resolved before it takeover bid proceeds.

“Ryanair has written today to Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Müller supporting the company’s ‘no further contribution’ policy towards Aer Lingus’s defined contribution pension schemes,” said the spokesperson.

“In its 2011 annual report, Aer Lingus contributed some €20m to its DC pension schemes, which equated to more than half of Aer Lingus’s total profitab-ility.

“Enough is enough. Ryanair will provide every assistance to Aer Lingus to maintain competition with Ryanair, and defeat these threats of disruption to Aer Lingus schedules by Aer Lingus unions who are yet again seeking to unjustly enrich themselves at the expense of Aer Lingus’s shareholders.”

A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said they were unaware of any strike action at the moment.

“We are not the subject of any industrial action and we don’t anticipate any disruption to our scheduled flights,” a spokesperson for Aer Lingus said.

“We will contact our customers if there is any change in the situation.”